A New World, A New Threat
by The Man With a Pen
Summary: 2nd Lieutenant Reeves was someone who could handle strange things. Like a portal opening up and tossing him into another world filled with creatures of darkness, lethal teenagers, and being assigned to train that worlds Special Mission Units. All while the UNSC has to discover this new world. Lucky for him he's Force Recon, one of the best. With a new world comes a new threat...
1. Chapter 1

**RWBY X Halo Crossover! This is my second story on this site, and considering the last one was fairly well received I figured why not branch off. Now, the beginning of this story does require you to understand my last one and it's main character. As this story is an alternative situation where something VERY different happens from what actually happened. Basically go see me last story, Chapter 11 and you'll understand. As for the rest of it, you should be good. So I'll shut up now and let you read the part you came for.**

Chapter 1

A Shiny Button

I took a breath and checked our surroundings. The room was small, about the size of a mess hall. Unpacked crates were scattered across it. As well, terminals both Covenant and unknown seemed to be connected to the object in the middle of the room. It was a large circular structure. However the center of it was flowing and pulsing with this strange light blue field in it.

I pondered over the days events.

A UNSC JSOC Task Force was sent in to retrieve a package from a Covenant excavation site high in the mountains. What we found was… Indescribable. Otherworldly actually, the sleek chrome and silver structures, along with breathtaking architecture. The whole place wasn't of any UNSC or Covenant origin.

The Task Force was comprised of 18 ODST's who were now guarding the entrance to the excavation site. 12 Army Special Warfare operators, 4 ONI Ground Ops, and my team of 8 Force Recon Marines.

My name is 2nd Lieutenant Reeves. I've been serving in the Marines since I was 23 and rose through the ranks due to a lot of the chain of command in my company coming to unfortunate ends. I'm 32 now, which is considered old with how much action I've seen.

I looked back towards the device in the middle of the room. The center of the circle fluctuating violently at an alarming rate.

"The hell is this thing Sigma?" I looked towards the man in question.

Sigma is an ONI Ground Operative, as for his mission, I believe this has something to do with it.

"It's a portal LT, as for where it leads or how it works… That's what WE were sent to find out." he took a pause before pointing to one of his men. "Spectre, Wraith, starting pulling all the data you can."

His men scurried around like mice in a cage. Hooking technical instruments and devices to anything that had a hole in it.

The building began shaking uncontrollably. The portal got brighter and brighter as the fluxuations started to focus on a small funnel at the top of it pointing towards the ceiling.

A large pound of snow then fell a couple of feet in front of me suddenly.

I looked up to see that not only was snow falling from the EXTREMELY high ceiling but the ceiling itself was separating into 2 partitions.

My head shot down towards the portal only to see that a large beam of energy to shoot into the sky.

"EVERYONE FIND COVER!" Sigma hollered at the top of his voice.

I went to dive only to be piled on by snow. Pinning me to the ground in front of the portal.

I tried to move but the snow simply held me in place. I kept a cool head and continued to work my way out of it.

I felt the snow slowly begin to be removed from my body. However, as I looked back I only found that the portal was sucking not only the snow but myself as well.

I grabbed onto the nearest thing I could and held on for dear life. My BR55 that was attached to my 2-point-sling was the first to go. The portal consumed it without hesitation.

Right as I began to get a grip the worst possible thing that could happen DID happen.

A pistol from one of the guys around me had broke loose of it's holster and was hurling towards my face.

I tried to react only to be socked in the face by 2 and a half pound of metal. Even with my Gungnir helmet that was exclusive to Force Recon it knocked my off my grip and sent me sailing towards the portal. My head tucked into my chest as I tried to get ready for who know what.

The last thing I remember is a bright flash of white… Only to be met with the warm sight of red?

My head was aching, my knees were in pain, and don't even get me started on my back.

This was good.

It meant I was alive.

My eyes slowly opened as my body shot to life. I rose to my feet with, despite my bodies constant demands to stay down.

My HUD's NAVMAP was going crazy… It couldn't find me longitude, latitude, topographical data, nothing. Which meant 2 things.

This place didn't have UNSC Satellite Surveillance, and it wasn't apart of UNSC space whatsoever as nothing could be found on it.

I made a mental note to myself

' _Everything is fair game. As far as I'm concerned nothing out here will make sense'_

I'd been dropped into places for Recon all the time and that's the same thing I said to myself.

When in an unknown area, be ready for any surprise. Because even if it may seem strange it's apart of where you are. So adapt to it.

I scanned my environment. Normal vegetation for the most part. Oak trees with red leaves. So obviously it was fall. Grass was still green and the air still breathable. I can make this work.

I took a knee and checked my gear. Normal grey Marine BDU with light shoulder, knee, and thigh plating. My M6C SOCOM was still on my hip, at least I had a weapon. My combat knife was tucked into its sheath on my chest next to my mags. 8 BR55 mags were strewn across my torso, not normal Recon outfitting but I packed heavy.

I had one last thing to check. I threw off my backpack and went over my supplies.

Extra mags.

Water… Food

Matches and extra batteries.

Medical equipment.

The whole nine yards.

I slung my backpack onto myself once again and began searching the area for the one thing missing.

My rifle.

As Captain always said. ' _A Marine without his rifle is no Marine at all, just a target.'_

I searched around the clearing I had landed in. for about a solid 2 minutes I checked the grass. I nearly gave up to.

Then sitting like the beautiful thing it is, was my rifle. Knocked behind a tree.

I picked it up and checked the mag and weapon for any damage.

None.

I slung it onto my back next to my pack and walked over to the edge of the cliff I had landed near. The drop was about a solid 90 feet, give or take. I switched on my helmets enhanced vision and scanned the horizon.

Bingo!

A large city was in the distance. Lucky for me I could range the cities distance using the enhanced vision inside this tin can.

The display read 7000 meters.

7 clicks of forest and unknown terrain.

Not good odds, but I'd had worse.

I was gonna have to use my rappel line here. No way I was gonna free climb this thi-

A rustling in the bushes and a subtle growl like noise came from directly behind me.

I unslung my rifle and did a 180 into a stable crouch.

I scanned the treeline with my optic.

No movement, nothing.

I brushed it off as a wild animal and focused on the task at hand.

I pulled out a rappel line from my bag and spiked it into the ground at the top of the cliff. Making sure the remote control locking mechanism was in place. After I was sure that the line was set I descended down through the canopy below.

At the bottom I activated the mechanism which caused the line to come loose and fall in my hand. God, technology could be great sometimes.

I shouldered my rifle and began my trek through the wilderness.

About 1 hour into my march nothing had happened. Just, red trees as far as the eye could see. I knew I was on the right track because I set a goddamn waypoint at the city… Approximately.

Then I heard it.

Chatter.

As in people chatter.

They sounded young, female in origin maybe. Seemed to be about 4 maybe.

I followed the noise. Getting closer and closer to the people in question.

I turned on FLIR imaging the closer I got to see them better.

It was indeed 4. They couldn't of been over 18?

In a strange decision I decided to stalk the locals. I creeped behind bushes, using the photo-reactive camo that blended in to the environment as my advantage. The outfits they wore were interesting however.

The tallest one was a VERY well endouded blonde girl who didn't seem to like the idea that clothes were meant to COVER up your body. What was more interesting were the gauntlets on her arms. They seemed to have shotgun shells attached to the rim of them. Some sort of fashion statement maybe?

The second was the smallest one. She was wearing a white skirt and heels in the fucking woods? Her skin was white, her hair was white, hell the only part that wasn't white was the red opening at the top of her outfit and… The fucking rapier on her hip. That seemed wrong? Or am I just out of the times?

The third was a little more modest I suppose. She came in 2nd in height and was wearing a mixture of black and white on her outfit. She seemed to be wearing a type of heel-boot?

I felt slightly embarrassed at not knowing the correct terms to use when pondering what they wore. In the Marines it was BDU and boots, that was it.

She had a neat bow on her head that seemed to twitch ever so slightly from time to time. As well, she also had a… Katana on her back? I couldn't tell. All I knew for sure is that I wasn't in kansas anymore.

The final girl was easily younger than the rest. She was happily sauntering through the woods without a care in the world. If black and white was the last girls thing. Black and red was hers. She wore an impressively cute skirt with black being the main color and red highlighting it. Hell, her hair, as black as it was had red highlights.

I examined further and discovered that she was no exception to the now established pattern. Beneath the hood and cloak she wore was a small block like object. It looked like a gun, and the fact she was carrying .50 Cal BMG rounds on her hip supported that claim.

Despite them being children, they were heavily armed. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with any of them. Especially since their locals. However, if it came down to it I'd half to minimize my time in the open.

That's when 'Black' had to open her mouth.

"I think I heard something?" The group became alerted immediately, dropping into some admittedly goofy stances. Then 'Red' turned that box looking thing into a goddamn Scythe.

I moved slightly backwards. Just enough they couldn't see me.

"I see something moving behind those bushes. Might be Grimm." I had no time to ponder what a 'Grimm' was. 'Black' had good eyesight and hearing. However, so do jackals. ' _She was no different'_ I thought to myself.

As the 4 of them closed in I could see that 'Yellow' and 'Black' took the lead as 'White' was following up behind them.

'Red' on the other hand was staying behind.

Perfect.

I double-backed and flanked to my left around the thick brush, not even snake eyes could see through this. I drew my sidearm and snuck up behind 'Red'. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to sneak up on kids with weapons, but I had to fuck with them a bit so they understood that they couldn't fuck with me. I've run into those type of locals before.

I leaned against the tree behind red, deactivated my reactive camo and whispered in a not-so-quiet tone.

"Did you find him?"

I didn't get an immediate answer. Rather, 4 startled teens now pointing lethal weapons at me.

"Who are you? And get away from my sister!" 'Yellow' was the first to answer. She blinked rapidly as I could see her eyes go from a vibrant lilac to a fiery red. What the fuck is with this chick.

"I'm nobody of importance, I simply want to be directed towards the nearest city... Which according to my HUD, is... " I tapped the side of my Gungnir helmet and pointed in the direction of the waypoint. "3 more clicks that way."

They looked towards each other with a questioning look. They didn't like me.

"You also sorta owe me considering you tried to skewer me back in those bushes."

They looked back to each other once again, disapprovingly.

This was gonna be hard.

"Jesus christ girls, I simply want a concrete answer then I'll be on my merry way back to UNSC space." Despite my conclusion that this place was not apart of the UNSC I still had to try. Maybe they knew about them, who knew.

"The UN- What?" This time 'White' spoke up with a seemingly angered tone. Drawing her weapon closer.

I raised my rifle slightly in defense. These kids were on edge.

"Look. Just point me in the direction of the nearest city please. Maybe tell me your names so I can at least identify you.

"Well… I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you!" The 'Red' girl now named Ruby. Held her hand out as a sign of peace. I reluctantly lowered my weapon and shook the young girls hand.

"Over there is Weiss, the blond one is my sister Yang, and the quiet one in all black is Blake. We're team RWBY of Beacon Academy." She looked back towards the other 3 and glared intentely.

"And we would be HAPPY to help… GUYS!" That last part was directed towards her team with murderous intent.

The girl named Yang immediately intervened at the gesture. Pushing me back towards the tree and placing herself in front of Ruby. The 3 other teammates following suit. Ruby seemed to do so reluctantly though.

"We are not telling you anything, because WE have no idea who you are." She looked towards her team before re engaging in a very heated staring contest with me.

"So I'll ask again, who are you? Who do you work for? I've never seen that type of armor used by any Kingdom." Shit. Won't take em' long to figure out I'm not from here. The last thing I needed was for this chick to reach her boiling point with suspicion.

I responded the only way I knew how.

I shouldered my rifle and visibly clicked the safety off.

"Look, I just asked for more detailed directions. Not a fight, but if you want one then I'll be happy to oblige."

The tension grew further.

Her team slowly tried to surround me, only for to be cut off with calculated pacing.

Then the timebomb that was sugartits over there went off.

She flew towards me with a pumped fist. I simply ducked under the punch and let her sail into the tree behind me. The force of the punch nearly shattered it.

I saw Blake try to throw something towards me. I sidestepped and opened fire. Hitting her with a solid 3-round-burst in the chest. I didn't like killing civilians, but I've had too before when they threatened me and my teams life. It happens.

She dropped to the ground with a loud thud, I could see her moving, however, there was no blood. Usually, 9.5x40mm ammo busted giant holes into people. I tried to not let that distract me and leveled my rifle.

Ruby launched herself back using her weapon and began laying down sniper fire from on top of a tree. As I tried to fall back Weiss and Yang reengaged and pressed the attack. I had to make a quick assessment.

Yang was a heavy hitter, obviously, but she telegraphed her strikes. In addition to that she was a short-range fighter, keeping her at a distance would keep her out of the fight from what I've seen.

At least that was what I thought before she started slinging shotgun rounds at me from her gauntlets. I decided not to question it and dove into the thick of the trees.

Reactivating my reactive camo and FLIR imaging I was hoping to re-position so I could take out there sniper.

Then Blake got up. If my helmet wasn't covering my face, my jaw would be on the dirt right now.

Yang was lighting up the spot I was last in with her shotgun blasts, leveling trees and creating small fucking craters in the ground. On the other hand, Weiss was twirling and spinning, somehow casting some type of goddamn spell, sending waves of fire towards the treeline.

Didn't matter, I had my shot on Ruby. I felt a tinge of guilt, then I remembered she tried to send a 50 through my chest… Maybe this was a good thing?

I held off my shot as I watched Blake rise from the ground. A strange field around her slightly pulsated before it appeared to settle. She seemed like she was in pain. So my rounds were still semi-effective.

"Blake are you okay? You're aura got hit hard!" Weiss was panicking. That meant they were relatively inexperienced. Because no veteran would ever panic in combat that easily.

On another note, what the hell was aura!? Was that the shield I saw protecting her? Did it act like energy shields? This has just been a very weird fucking day.

Well… It didn't matter, she was low on it, whatever "it" was. Which meant she was almost out of the fight.

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine, but those aren't standard rounds. They hit HARD."

I smirked under my helmet and settled my optics on Ruby's chest.

Sorry kiddo.

I made sure to fire 5 rounds this time.

They hit quickly and knocked her off the tree. If the bullets didn't put her out then the fall definitely will. She hit the mud below her with a hard thud, bouncing once before staying in place. She was breathing, but not getting up.

"RUBY!" She was pissed now.

"You... " Oh yeah, definitely pissed.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She then proceeded to burst into flames.

Yes… She. Burst. Into. Flames.

Yang began firing at the treeline with reckless abandon, shooting up enough smoke, dust, and debris to buy me time to reposition AGAIN. She made sure every square inch of land behind the treeline got lead thrown into it.

I decided it was best to let her do her own thing and flanked hard right.

As Blake and Weiss were tending to Ruby, Yang sat in the open.

Yang was clearly losing a sense of where she was. I could exploit that. Taking out one more of her teammates or furthering the stress on her would make her more irrational. A fatal flaw.

I fired 2 rounds into Blakes side, causing her to jolt up before slumping down next to Ruby.

Weiss unexpectedly shot towards my position like a bullet from a gun. I barely dove out of the way. Losing my rifle in the process. I rolled to my feet and did the only thing that made sense at the time.

I tackled her.

We hit the ground with a thud, her silver rapier falling out of her hands. I grabbed her wrists immediately.

"Let go of me you ruffian!" She went to say something else but was met with the front of my helmet smashing against her face.

Her face scrunched up in visible pain. I grabbed the rapier that had fallen just out of her reach. Positioned my wrist on the grip so that the pommel was extended. Then wacked her over the forehead with it. Like that, she was out like a light.

Finally, we had Yang, who was still firing in 360 degrees of coverage all around her with a personal vendetta against mother-nature.

I was gonna run out of concealment soon. There was not a chance in the world I would survive an engagement in open ground.

There was also no way I risking body shots. I had to end this now.

"COME OUT AND FACE ME YOU WUSSY! I KNEW WE COULDN'T TRUST YOU" I waited, if only for a moment.

Just that single moment where the terror set in. Where she realized she was fighting something she couldn't see or hear. Her guard dropped momentarily. As she looked down towards her now unconscious friends. The paranoia hit her like a truck

She started scanning frantically, the panic and fear in her voice evident as ever.

"W-Where are you! Come out and fight!"

You see the thing about photo-reactive camo is that it doesn't make you invisible. It simply replicates the environmental patterns and colors onto your gear. So no matter where you go it could always camouflage you.

As her back turned to me I rolled a grenade down towards her feet.

Her neck shot back before the grenade went off, sending her flying towards a tree.

I left my concealed position and walked over to the bodies, checking their pulse and breathing.

"Yup, all stable."

That was a relief. Now I just had to figure out what to do with 'em.

I heard something akin to an explosion behind me.

I turned around in confusion only to see a flying blonde travelling in my direction at was presumably mach fucking 10.

Then… I blacked out.

My eyes slowly opened. A bright light was blurring my vision and making it impossible to see anything where I was.

My gear was definitely missing. My BDU pants was all that I could feel on my body. I waited patiently for my vision to clear. The lights, seemingly losing their distinct twinkle. The colors of the world coming into vision. I was in an infirmary from the looks of it.

It was a small room with a single bed and plenty of medical devices, machines, and other things hooking into who knew where. The only significant sound being the subtle, rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. That and the indoor fans and air conditioning creating a steady hum in the room.

Ahead of my bed was a twin set of doors leading out into a hallway, to my right was a window. Looking out onto some sort of bright courtyard with long colosseum like pillars surrounding a main statue. As for the left, just a wall. A few chairs. Nothing special.

I felt my senses come back alongside with movement in my body. I attempted to move. I sat up straight and reached for the covers.

Only to find my hands had been restrained to the bed with leather straps.

Great…

A nurse walked in through the doors and stared me in my eyes. She then wrote something down onto a piece of paper and tapped something onto what looked like a phone. Afterwards, she left the room.

So I sat there… For about 30-40 minutes?

Not a peep, just the constant beeping.

When suddendly a man in a light green suit jacket and vest calmly walked through the door.

"Sorry about the wait, I was notified about your condition 37 minutes ago but had other matters to attend to." His hair was a prominent gray or silver. Alongside his… Strange wardrobe, was a green scarf hugging his neck, it had a small pin on it but I couldn't really see the details.

I simply stared at him with a neutral facial expression. This was weird.

He, in reply pushed up his glasses and placed one hand on his cane and sipped, what I assumed was coffee from his mug in the other hand.

That damn beeping seemed to get slower and slower.

"You don't need to play the quiet game with me. The team you almost completely incapacitated in Grimm infested forests explained that you were quite chatty prior to your engagement." He smirked, clearly he felt in control of the situation. Of course, he actually was but I'd rather keep him guessing.

"Well…" The man inquired

Silence was only a valid option for so long.

I gestured towards the restraints.

He, in return, nodded towards a woman I had failed to recognize behind him. She was wearing a tight, low-leg skirt with a white top. She also had a small cloak hanging down to about her lower back.

The first though in my head was ' _Oh great another blonde_.'

Subverting my expectations she removed the restraints quickly and proceeded to back away. Keeping her eagles glare on me at all times.

"You must excuse my associate Glynda here. The day has been rather taxing. I do apologize about the restraints, but we were uncertain what your actions may be upon waking." He paused in the middle of his sentence to finish his cup of coffee.

"I pray that they did not cause any discomfort?"

I rubbed the red streaks across my wrist and I rolled my legs out of my bed. Shaking my head.

' _Might as well play along'_

"Right, well I am Professor Ozpin. Headmaster to this institution. Over there would be Professor Glynda, deputy headmaster." I held my hand out towards Glynda, she simply turned her head and crossed her arms.

I closed my hand into a fist, pulling it back to my side.

I figured it was my turn to talk. I looked Ozpin dead in the eyes.

"Where's my gear?" 3 words was all I needed.

I pushed myself out of the bed and onto the floor. Beside it was my combat boots. I slipped each one on and tied them up accordingly. I was clad in nothing but my grey BDU pants and the olive drab PT shirt I wore under everything.

I straightened myself out, I stood a solid 3 inches taller than Glynda. I almost matched Ozpin in height exactly.

"Well.. Right to the point then. This way then." He waved his hand towards me.

As we left the halls and walked through what I assumed was this places campus I could actually admire some of the architecture. It wasn't tactically sound and the winding halls would be a bitch to travel in combat but they made you feel safe.

"I'm not stupid, I can see that you aren't from this world. Your weapons and gear are a testament to that. So let me explain some things about Remnant." I listened intently to what he was about to tell me. The more I know the better.

He explained everything, even recorded himself doing it, should I forget something.

The Grimm

Kingdoms

Hunters

White Fang.

Seemingly all of it in our walk. Of course it was a crash course, I could tell important details were being left out.

At some point through all the whispering and chatter of the halls we ended up in his office. He took a seat and gestured for me to take one to. I obliged

He nodded for me to talk about what I had just heard.

"Look… All of this sounds crazy to be honest. Dark creatures, animal humanoids or the Faunus as you call them. I won't question it because this day has already given me ample reason to believe it. All I care about it getting back to the UNSC." I let my posture slouch. "Sadly, I have no way of contacting them. So I'm stuck here." Ozpin then seemed to be lost in thought before speaking.

"Yes… It would seem so. Tell me, Reeves was it? What exactly is the UNSC and how are you connected to it." It was my turn to explain. So I did.

The UNSC.

The Covenant.

The War.

The Marines.

Force Recon.

I explained as much as I could without giving away intel or classified information.

As I continued on about our war I could see the shock rise on the faces of both Ozpin and Glynda. Here they were, surviving against overgrown wolves and bears. Hardly making it by where they lived and then next thing they know there is an alien threat capable of destroying planets. Even if they didn't admit it, they were scared. I was scared just talking about it.

"Oh dear… I can't possibly imagine what that's like… Losing billions by the week. The destruction. I am sorry." I shrugged it off with a polite thank you. "However, I believe we can come to an agreement. You are a highly skilled combatant, you were capable of nearly taking down one of my best teams despite only being found here hours beforehand. You also survived a Grimm infested forest, alone no less." he paused, filling his mug with more coffee. A scary amount of coffee.

"From the reports they filed after the battle, you displayed keen tactical superiority and marksmanship. Whether you like it or not, you are fit to train people, as you explained early Lieutenant." I didn't like where this is going. I probably shouldn't of told him about the whole 'I train Special Operations thing'. "Now I propose, for your training I can provide you with a place to stay within my academy, now you won't be required to go to classes as you are way above the age of enrollment. However, I do recommend that you try and study about the world around you."

It was a tempting offer.

A place to stay that had forges, weapon ranges, and plenty of other things I could utilize.

All I'd have to do is train… A bunch of teenagers… To kill…

"Professor Ozpin, with all due respect, I won't train a bunch of kids to become precise killers?" I draw the line there. Kid's always stay out of it until the last straw. In all my time I've only had to kill 1 kid. He rushed our position with a suicide vest strapped to him. Fucking Insurrectionists.

"Oh no. Sadly, my Hunter and Huntresses in training simply aren't ready for something like that. They may be eager to eviscerate the Grimm but most wouldn't dare to even think about taking a Human or Faunus life." he paused, displaying a heavily armored person with a 3D holographic. It showed what looked like a SWAT or Spec Ops unit.

"These are Vales finest. The VRT, Vale Response Team. As elite as they are… They simply haven't had the rigorous and in depth training you describe. They need someone like you to help them deal with terrorist threats such as the White Fang when needed."

This was a little better. I could work with these guys. All while keeping my own skills sharp. It also helped that I'd be able to get intel on their armed forces should the need arise.

They were wearing what looked like old operator gear form the 21st century. MICH helmets, plate carriers, and MOLLE straps.

Without missing a beat I replied

"I'm in!" I would be lying if I didn't say I was dying to work again.

Ozpin clapped his hands together and smiled a genuine smile.

"Wonderful! Now just one last matter to attend to!" Before Glynda could question the headmaster's choices, he was already at the PA mic.

"Would Team RWBY please report to my office!"

 **New story. I've wanted to make this for a while and I'm glad I was finally able to. Yes, some of the beginning is a tad bit rushed I will admit but I couldn't find a way to make it work without and extra chapter of build up to the teleport.**

 **As always please leave me a review, giving me your thoughts on the story.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2 An Apology From Both Parties

**Chapter 2! I must thank you for the reviews and feedback. I was sceptical when creating chapter 1 because I felt like it forced to many things. By the reviews this was also noticed. Yes, the whole idea of Ozpin taking in a random person into his academy is unrealistic. I've noticed this in not only my story but others as well. Frankly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't do that to simply create a platform for Reeves to interact with the main cast. So in this chapter I will attempt to remedy and clarify that.**

 **Reeves does not teach at the school, he is simply staying there due to his agreement with Ozpin. He will be training the Vale law enforcement, Special Missions Units, etc. Much like how 3rd party contractors are hired to train our law enforcement in real life. Another thing I should of clarified is that Reeves is not a Spartan. He's a Force Recon Marine that's been issued a Spartan helmet much like how some ONI wear Recon helmets. Yes, it sorta breaks lore but I do this to give him his own distinct feel and look. Again, not the fault of the reader but my own. The first chapter was a bit of a mess in my opinion. I'm still thankful for the reviews.**

 **Anyway, this has gone on WAY to long. Hopefully this chapter is less of a clusterfuck**

Chapter 2

An Apology From Both Parties

"Now Mr. Reeves. About your armor." He got up out of his chair and pulled something from under his desk. It was a large rectangular crate.

He gestured towards the box. Guess this was it.

I opened the flip-locks and lifted the cover open.

Inside was all of the things that currently weren't on my person.

My torso plating, shoulder pads, mag pouches, upper BDU, and finally, my helmet.

"If you require a change room I have one here you can use. As for your weapons, they're currently in the armory." I nodded with a sign of understanding, I didn't need a change room. I was only putting this stuff on. Not off.

I slid each part of my gear on piece by piece. The whole thing seemingly ritualistic in nature. When I put this on it was usually because a job had to be done. People would die and I'd have to kill someone. Maybe, this time would be different.

I finished up with my helmet. Upon further inspection I could see a clear and present dent in the side I had been hit in. The right, to be specific.

I slid on the Gungnir helmet and watched as the HUD popped to life. The flicker of blue outlinings and the readouts burst to life. Almost like they knew it was time to go to work.

I heard the sound of the elevator door sliding open with a hydraulic hiss.

' _Show time'_

I reared my head in the direction of the door. Knowing full well who it was.

The moment Team RWBY saw me standing there, in full combat gear no less they winced with surprise.

Yang, being the gun-ho person she is walked up and interrupted the Professor in the start of his sentence.

"You better be here to apologize or I'll send you back to the infirmary!" Gotta love this part of the job. Her team, including Ruby, backed her up. Trying to create a sense of intimidation. While I may of not liked the odds of the fight, I certainly wasn't intimidated.

"Now now children calm down. We'll get to an apology from BOTH parties shortly." He sipped from his mug once more. Sitting back down in his chair. Did this guy just run on coffee or something?

"In the meantime, we have something to discuss." He paused. Pointing towards me. "Now, Reeves. Would you please tell them what you told me" More explanation. Nice.

So I explained everything I told Ozpin. Except this time, with a little more emphasis on the shit I'd seen.

Was it a dick move to traumatize the kids. Maybe, but I wanted them to stop trying to fuck with me. This was the easiest way.

The looks of horror, sorrow, disbelief, all of it flashed on their faces like a mugshot. The air around me must've gotten colder as they seemed to back away slowly with each passing second.

Weiss spoke up first. "Even if we did believe all this… What proof do you have to say that you're not making up all this… Destruction." A logical accusation. She seemed to be the most reasonable of the group so far. That may change, things always change.

"Girls, I know it may seem hard to believe the man but beli-" This time I interrupted. If these kids wanted proof I'd show them proof.

I pulled of my helmet and placed it on his desk. The room got quiet and the girls looked at me with curiosity. This was the first time they'd seen my face after all I assuming.

Maybe they weren't expecting a beat up old man who wasn't even at half his intended life yet. The deformities that littered my face from shrapnel cuts to a bruised jaw weren't subtle either.

I then extracted a chip from inside the helmet. Here's hoping it was compatible.

I found a slot to insert it in and prayed it worked.

Ozpin's holo-desk shot to life and proceeded to read out a list of recordings ranging from 1 to 378. Since Ozpin's was at the controls I requested he play recording one.

The lights dimmed and a holographic screen faded into existence.

It was my first mission. I was fresh out of bootcamp and assigned to Kilo company. 'The Meat Grinder' A front line force that was the cannon fodder for the UNSC.

We were assigned with assaulting a covenant compound in the mountains below us via Pelican assault. The war was only in it's infant stages. We had an idea of what the Covenant was and what their goal were, but we weren't experts on fighting them.

On our way down we were shot down by Covenant AA fire. Only about 1 third of the attack force actually landed near the LZ. The only ones that made it near it were the ones that crashed and only 3 had crashed.

Of those that crashed 1 of them was completely fatal. With both the pilot's and the passengers going up in flames. We could still hear their screams over the radio. The other Pelican had lost their pilots, 3 Marines, and had 5 injured. My Pelican's pilot somehow managed to crash land us saving the lives of all the passengers.

Once we had re-established communications we had learned that the 9 Pelican assault force that was sent down had of course been chopped down to 6, but had to dust off from the original LZ and land miles south of it. Of course the Covenant was quick to capitalize on this and immediately engaged the main assault force with ground troops.

Cut of and with no support we decided to RV with the other crash sites survivors. We made radio contact and headed towards their position. It was a long walk and we stayed quiet.

When we reached them, nothing was left. Just corpses. Covenant patrols were mopping up. It was good thing we left our Pelican too. We saw dropships moving towards the smoke.

With no other option we decided that we'd try and complete the objective. Or die trying.

Our tech guys had pinpointed the location of a signal jammer near their AA batteries. So we devised a plan.

Half of what was left of our company would assault the jammer, the other half would disable the guns. It was a textbook suicide mission through and through. We had a job to do though.

I was assigned to clear out the compound housing the jammer. We'd be under Marine sniper support along with some heavy weapons fire as we assaulted the compound.

We hiked a solid 4 clicks of mountainous terrain to the jammer. We gave the signal to our support elements and commenced the attack. With any hostile's on the outer perimeter peppered with holes we rushed through the front gate and into a firefight.

Plasma and lead was slung back and forth from each of us as we broke for cover.

Popping in and out to acquire new targets, I forgot how long it lasted. It was only my first mission, no special gear like I had now. Just a regulation Marine BDU and Ma5C.

I was held up behind a stack of crates as my fellow Marines headed up the middle, drawing their attention.

I popped up one last time and saw it.

My first kill.

I still remember it vividly to this day.

My target was a Jackal sniper up on some catwalks picking off our guys.

I leveled my rifle and squeezed the trigger with the necessary 5-pounds of force.

The round sailed straight and true, puncturing a hole big enough you could stick your finger in it. Time seemed to go in slow motion as the round travelled through the Jackal's brain and out it's other temple. The bones and brains splattered all over the wall beside in a beautiful purple splatter.

The Jackals body slumped over lifeless in it's position.

We continued pushing further into the compound as they kept falling back.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I could see a massive blur charge my position.

I instinctively rolled backwards and aimed my sights on what had attacked me. In hindsight, I should've ran.

In front of me was a 7 foot, armor clad elite. Looking mighty pissed off.

Logically I decided to dump every last round into the beast. It was fast though, the rounds it didn't dodge it simply absorbed into it's shielding.

As the ammo counter on my rifle reached 0 found myself nearly face to face with the thing. No time to draw my sidearm, and the Elite readying to swing. I did the only thing that seemed logical.

I dove into it's stomach and tackled it.

It was caught off guard by the bold, yet stupid act. With it's guard now lowered I reached for my knife and looked for a place to insert it. I found a nice place above the hip, near the kidneys.

Inverting the knife so the blade was facing up I plunged it into its side. Blood splattered onto my helmet and face. The mighty creatures roared in agony and defiance. I simply ripped the knife upwards in it's flesh, creating a large gash, bleeding profusely.

Whether in an act of primal instinct or pain it rolled over and placed itself to my side. With my on my back it reered it's fist back for a bone shattering punch.

I rolled to my left, the fist impacted the ground with a thunderous **CRUNCH.** Another scream of pain from the Elite followed.

Wrapping my legs around it's arm and pinning my boot under its chin I drew my sidearm. Drilling the barrel into the helmet's eye-socket that the Elite wore, I fired round after round until the all too familiar click rang through the walls around me.

I stood up and loaded a new mag into both my weapons, only to find no one around me. Just silence and bodies both friend and foe. The charred corpses of men I'd trained with and the torn up bodies of the enemies I fought.

I ended the recording there. The rest only got worse.

Pulling the chip from the holo-desk. I inserted it back into my helmet.

The sense of dread and shock hung over the room like a bad smell.

"There's your proof." Nothing more needed to be said.

"Well, I think it'd be best to move onto the seconds subject at hand. Now, Team RWBY I called on you for more than an apology." He stopped mid sentence to straighten out his posture. Placing both of his hands together on the desk.

"As far as anyone else on Remnant goes, you 4 are the only others who know of Reeves world and true nature. While Reeves will be handling a… " He stopped once again to ponder his choice of words. Not wanting to give too much away or start a controversy.

"Job offer, I have given him a time may come where he'll be needed on certain assignments. I would like to task you 4 as his support on said assignments." Ozpin finished before almost being shouted at by all 4 members of their team. "Working with him on assignments will also grant you extra credits and lien" The 4 girls all held their words back and looked at each other with shrugged shoulders.

In the blink of an eye they huddled together and started whispering with one another.

Ozpin, Glynda, and I just looked towards each other with clear and utter confusion.

Ruby bursted from the group with a smile ear-to-ear.

"We'll take it!" Blake and Weiss seemed contempt with the decision. Yang was still staring daggers into me.

"Wonderful! If there a no further questions you are all dismissed." No one seemed to have one. So we filed out and into the elevator. There were 3 elevators present in the room, the other 2 were down for maintenance it appeared.

We packed ourselves into the elevator. I guided my hand over the buttons and pinged for the ground floor. My helmet was still attached to my waist, figured there was no need to wear it.

Team RWBY was crowded behind me as I plainly stared at the door.

Weiss was to my left, and Blake to my right.

Each passing level felt like an eternity of tension and awkwardness.

My eyes shifted to my left, towards Weiss' head. I observed closely, if only for a moment. A few, singular beads of sweat were trickling down the side of her forehead.

"For what it's worth... " My head snapped over to Blake. Whose eyes were more fixated on the ground than anything else.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through… I've lost people I've cared about to in conflict as well." Her hand slightly shaked with the statement, her bow twitching ever so slightly.

I figured it wasn't a time that I could stick to my silence.

"For what it's worth… I'm sorry about having to fight you. An I do apologize. Thank you though, for what you said." I wasn't an emotional person. My statement as kind as it seemed didn't really carry any weight behind it. More of respectful banter rather than a true statement.

The doors slid open with mechanical screech. One by one we all left the confined chamber and went our separate ways.

Well… My separate way at least. They stayed together.

I needed a weapon.

 **High-Orbit above Talion IV**

 **UNSC** _ **Ascension**_

 **4 hours after the incident**

"I don't care about your excuses Sigma. I only care about why the hell there is a portal the size of a small country projecting into the atmosphere. I'd also like to know as where the fuck my goddamn 2nd Lieutenant is." Major Grant was currently in the observations deck of the UNSC Light Cruiser " _The Ascension"_ having a very heated debrief with an ONI Advisor and the JSOC Task Force sent in almost 4 hours ago.

Other than the previously mentioned there was the Air-Ground coordinator codenames "Overlord".

As stated there was indeed a massive portal projecting itself onto the atmosphere. After Reeves had been teleported and the beam of energy shot into the sky the portal only grew bigger and bigger from its origin point.

The Task Force was instructed to hold tight for research crews to arrive. Only for the Forerunner building to collapse on itself. They pulled out and were ordered to the observation deck for debrief.

"Major, we had no idea what this construct was. My team did as we were trained to do. I do take full responsibility for the events of the last 4 hours however." Sigma, the leader of the ONI Ground Ops team sent in with the Task Force was under some very undesirable heat.

That's when the Advisor stepped in.

"Major, with all due respect the situation was out of my operatives control. There's nothing we can do about it now. However, we have to focus on the task at hand. We only have THIS ship left of all of the ships sent to repel 2 cruisers. We may of destroyed their small battle group but more will come." He paused before activating something on the holo-table in the middle of the room.

"I've requested additional ships and troops be sent to our location for reinforcements. HIGHCOM want us to secure this planet and buy time for Recon teams to be sent through and find what is on the other side. They'll set up a prototype signal relay, much like what we use for slipspace and radio back to the fleet." The ONI Advisor in his black Naval uniform placed his hands behind his back.

"Are you ordering me Lieutenant?" Grant was someone who believed in the Chain of Command, he also didn't like the Navy to much. They tended to mess with his operations to many times, causing unnecessary deaths and other complications.

Example A being the giant portal in the atmosphere.

"No. Major I am not ordering you" He tapped something into a holo-pad before turning it around and displaying it to the Major. It was message from HIGHCOM.

"High Command is…" he then turned it back to himself and returned to his tapping.

The Major sighed and adjusted the cap on his forehead. All while rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course, if you have a problem with it… You can always take it up with them?" The Advisor smirked and looked towards Grant once again.

"Didn't think so… I'm not heartless though. You'll be able to handle asset management and strategic command over the whole operation. You can even select the Recon team if you wish… Though, I think we both know who you're sending in?" The Advisor then layed the holo-pad on the table and left the observations deck.

"ONYX TEAM!" The Major shouted towards the very large group of Tier 1 units. Out of the group of mismatched Special Operations from all branches of the UNSC. A single team stepped up. They wore grey Marine BDU's with photo-reactive camo and Gungnir helmets that only they got. Other than Spartans that was.

They were Reeves' team, and they were ready to go.

Reeves trained every new batch of Force Recon recruits in selection for 1st Force Recon Company. Each member who made it through was systematically assigned a team. From Metal Team to Granite Team.

All except Onyx. Reeves led that team and handpicked trainees who showed promise to be apart of it. Out of all the Force Recon Marines in 1st Company, these were the best.

All 7 members stood in a horizontal line in front of the Major at attention. All 7, due to Reeves currently not being here.

In his absence was First Sergeant Cooper, A CQC specialist and second-in command for Reeves.

"Onyx, Reeves has spoken highly of you, so have your fellow Marines." The major finished adjusting his hat once more before continuing his speech. "I pray that Reeves is right about you because his life may depend on it." He grabbed the holo-pad and checked the operations timeline.

"You've all got 2 days at the most until the operation begins. You'll be inserted via Pelican through the portal with a prototype radio relay. Once the relay is in position, secure the LZ for the rest of the Ground Force. We'll set up and FOB there and work form then on out." He sighed again and slightly slammed the holo-table with his fist.

"I don't know why ONI want this portal so much or if there's even anything on the other side of ANY strategic value. Guess we'll have to go in 'guns up, heads down."

The mission was somewhat suicidal. However, that was sorta the job.

"Dismissed."

The whole room filled out in a hurry. No doubt to prepare for the mission to come. Leaving an old, grizzled Major alone. Looking into what could possibly be oblivion itself.

"Alright Reeves. Time to do what you do best… Survive"

 **Remnant**

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

 **4 hours after the incident**

As I navigated through the twisting hall ways of the school I felt a slight vibration in my pocket. I reached down and searched through the pouch to try and find the source of the disruption.

I pulled out a small phone with a glass plating that seemed to extend and retract as the user activated it.

A scroll was what Ozpin called it. Operated quite similar to that of a modern day smartphone.

A single message was displayed on the screen.

' _Your room is located on the 3rd floor in the dormitory section of the school on the West side of the campus. You're looking for a door with the number 628 on it. Use the scroll to gain access to your room and other school facilities.' ~ Ozpin_

Interesting… The man works fast.

I rounded another corner

In front of me was the Beacon armory. Though it was more of a locker room than anything. I held my scroll up to the ID scanner and the door's lock clicked open.

Grabbing the handle I opened the door slowly. I always did enjoy weapons so might as well savor the moment. Low and behold there it was. Lockers as far as the eye could see, weapons parts scattered throughout the room and plenty of ammunition to supply a small army.

I marched over to the locker that held my room number. 628, my new lucky number.

Scanning my scroll once again the locker opened with a mechanical clunk.

There they were.

Inside were my signature weapons. Not exactly unique but you grow attached to your weapons after so long.

My BR55 was still in pristine condition alongside all of the magazines I'd brought with me. Hanging near the bottom of the locker was my M6C SOCOM Magnum. With all of the assorted mags of course.

Lazily tossed on the foot of the locker was my combat knife. Still sharp and definitely still lethal. I almost took offense to how they treated the blade.

Placing each mag into the pouches on my kit I soon realized that I'd need to find a way to get new rounds. My weapons were chambered very specifically and unless this world had the rounds I needed I may have to do some weapon tinkering.

After placing the last mag into its pouch I grabbed my sidearm and holstered into the drop-holster on my leg. I followed that up by grabbing my combat knife and sheathing it into the scabbard on the top left side of my chest plate.

I slung my rifle around my shoulder and made sure the safety was on.

As I left the armory I decided I might as well try and synchronize my watch and HUD's clock. Pulling out my scroll and preparing to adjust my clocks setting I soon realized that they were both in synch.

So Remnant and my universe both had the same time frames. That made my life a little less infuriating.

I was glad I checked the clock because the time was reaching 9:45. Good thing it was a Friday or I'd have to worry about students getting to classes tomorrow.

Just means my walk to the shuttle to Vale would be quiet.

As I entered the West wing of the campus and climbed to the 3rd floor of the dorms, I could see Ruby entering her room just about 30-40 meters down from my own.

I made a mental note that my support team lived just a few doors down and unlocked my own. Entering the room I found that it was decently sized. A single bed lay at the back of the room and a small washroom in the far right corner. There was a desk by the door and a closet on the left-hand side wall. A few bookshelves laid on both sides of my bed as well as a night stand.

It was cozy, that's one thing for sure.

Stripping off each piece of my clothing and gear until I lay in simply my underwear and T-shirt I flopped into bed.

Only as I lay in the warm, comforting mattress did I realize just how much my body hurt.

Aching muscles lay still in rebellion, ignoring my brains command to move under the covers.

Eventually my mind grew tired of the mental clash in my head and simply decided to sleep instead.

Good call.

My eyes fluttered shut and my thoughts drifted away like a forgotten memory. Leaving me a piece.

Until it was time to go back to work tomorrow.

 **That's the second Chapter finished. Like I said at the beginning, I am enjoying the feedback and I'm working to fix some of the problems addressed. So please keep making reviews critiquing the story. It's the only way I can make it more enjoyable for you guys.**

 **I'll be trying to create the 3rd chapter soon but my School and Sports are already consuming a lot of time so expect updates for both stories to be spotty at best.**


	3. Chapter 3 Train Hard, Fight Harder

Chapter 3

Train Hard, Fight Harder

The constant and assaulting digital alarm repeating over and over awoke me from my sleep. I slammed my fist violently down onto the source of the annoying and irritating sound.

Time to go to work.

I rose from my bed and began slipping on my Grey BDU. While we often used to be made fun of for our BDU's strange color. It made us look like Janitors. It certainly was handy at not making you the outlier in a crowd.

I packed all my weapons and gear into a seperate bag and moved towards the coffee maker I'd failed to notice last night.

Honestly, I didn't need to bring my guns. I was arriving earlier to train with this world's rifles and handguns. Eventually I would run out of rounds and I needed to prepare to use what was available.

I had felt like such and idiot in that moment.

' _I should fucking shower'_

I smelled myself to the best of my ability and simply decided fuck it.

I'd genuinely gotten accustomed to not keeping up with bodily cleansing and hygiene for missions that sometimes I would just forget. Even in cases when I had the chance.

I didn't smell too bad but frankly if the trainees cared then they shouldn't be operating at this level. So I poured the dark elixir into a cup and slung the bag over my shoulder. I carefully opened the door, which seemed to groan and screech in agony every time I moved it an inch.

' _This days gonna be rough. I can already tell'_

Walking down the halls and skidding down the stairways I found the exit out into the courtyard which lead to the air docks. As I walked by the monument in the epicenter of the large area I could feel the cold wind howling over and past my ears.

The cold air seemed to creep around my body like a cloak. The Sun only illuminating the horizon.

If I wasn't sure before I was now. Fall was definitely here.

As I entered the air docks a single airship was sitting at the port. I walked up to the doors which opened automatically with a silent swish of the air around it.

I stepped in and looked at the pilot.

"So… You're here for the 4:35 shuttle I assume?" I simply nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs lining the walls of the aircraft.

"You don't look like a student… Mainly because no teenager in their right mind would be caught dead at 4:35. Let me guess you're…" He paused. Snapping his fingers as he tried to turn his thoughts to words.

I simply looked at him rubbing the slightly bushy, black beard growing on my face.

"Ya know… From the scars on 'yer face I won't even ask." He returned to his controls, beginning out takeoff.

I craned my head over to the window trying to admire the view at least. Drinking occasionally from the cup in my hand. However, because it was so late nothing could really be seen out the window except the city lights.

So I was left with nothing but the reflection on the clear glass. My face.

My brown eyes were faded. To even say they had bright color to begin with would require a magnifying glass to prove. My face had a large scar on my left cheek from shrapnel that a grenade hurled at me during an operation I can't even remember.

My hair was regulation cut. With only a light frizz of the black hair that once resided on my head. I was only 32, but I looked like I was nearing my 50's. War was a magical thing after all. I finished the warm and energizing liquid inside my cup and grabbed my bag. We should be there by now.

In the hours I had before going to grab my weapons yesterday I studied as much as I could on Remnant. I'd found out a pretty decent chunk. 4 Kingdoms, with Atlas being the most technologically advanced. Vacuo, the least structured Kingdom in a desolate wasteland. Ravaged by war and battles for resources. Kinda reminded me of someplace on Earth I'd read up about a long time ago.

Mistral, A country of artistic value that was well versed in it's criminal underground. Basically, they didn't really contribute anything MEANINGFUL to the world. Just a distraction from what's really going on.

Finally, Vale. The most normal Kingdom in terms of that it's a sanctuary for normal civilian life. No main economic source or primary attribute. It was a nice place to live but was constantly at odds with it's council never being able to decide on anything.

An inept Police Force that had done next to nothing to actually stop or slow the progress of a growing terrorist and crime threat within the city. A few skirmishes had broken out between them and student teams from Beacon on a few occasions. Those teams just so happened to be Team RWBY.

Of course, like Ozpin had said. None of the threats were neutralized causing a drawn out and prolonged battle that endangered civilians and created more property damage than it saved. None of them were held accountable as the destruction was seen as 'necessary'.

That's what I'd learned about Hunters from the reports, what I'd seen, and history books.

They were unnecessarily over the top. Taking the fight where ever they damned pleased, not worrying about collateral damage.

I was brought out of my thoughts as the ship halted with a jolt and I shot to my feet.

My mind soon processed that I wasn't being attacked and dropped my alertness.

I picked up my bag and walked off the airship. Maybe I could grab more coffee on the way there? I opened my scroll and set a GPS to the training facility. As I looked through the streets I saw that there was indeed a coffee shop that would be open by the time I got to it.

I figured I should stop pondering it and start making my way.

I walked for about 8 minutes to the facility. I grabbed another coffee on the way and spent my damn time savoring each drop of the sweet liquid.

I reached the front doors of the Vale Special Missions Tactical Training Center. I walked through the main lobby and began looking around the building. I held my watch up and checked the time.

4:48.

I still had about 20 minutes until my first class showed up for the day. I walked the building, taking note of each room, every angle, and all of the equipment it provided. The center of the main facility housed the killhouse. A labyrinth of thick walls and doors that bloated the entire room. Above the killhouse was a set of intersecting catwalks that peered over every inch of the room.

Inside the killhouse was a multitude of furniture, counters, desks, shelves, that were used to obstruct certain angles and help recreate an urban environment.

On the backlot of the building was a plethora of outdoor ranges. All varying in length. Some were barely 25 meters out, while some were as far as 1000 meters.

The place would do nicely. It had everything I would need. At least they didn't cut down on quality of equipment.

I jogged back inside the building and opened the armory. I had to start getting accustomed to their weapons.

I unlocked the medal slide protecting the weapons. What I found was a pleasant surprise.

Unlike everything I'd seen so far the designs of the carbines was simple and practical. I say CARBINE'S, plural because there were multiple designs. There was a bullpup design. Somewhat similar to that of our Ma5 series, the only difference being it was a lot smaller and less cleancut. You could see each individual piece of metal and where they attached. The front foregrip had been replaced with a built-in vertical grip, and with a somewhat bulky muzzle brake. Being the gun-nut I am, the design seemed eerily similar to that of TAR-21 from the 21st century. The carbine was actually designated at the TAR-21. Remnant seemed to just be a 21st century earth in a fairytale. Which explained all the similarities.

The next weapon displayed on the rack was what immediately caught my attention. Another bullpup design but way more sleek and clean. A single rail system was placed above the charging handle which was attached to both sides of the rifle like my own weapon. The foregrip was sleek as well with small finger indentations for handling. The barrel only extended about 3 inches from the gun. The weapon in mind was blaring sirens in my head. Only one word came to my head with this gun. F2000. Again, the weapon itself was also designated that name.

Finally, the last rifle being a quad-railed short barrelled weapon with an adjustable stock that was a tad-too slim for my liking. On both sides of the rifle were the select-fire lever. Safe, Semi, Automatic. The safe symbol being blazed in white, while the other 2 were in red. A dust cover was located on the right side that was covering up the ejection port. I looked at the weapons tag that was located above it. The M416.

I loaded all 3 rifles into a gun bag and grabbed 2 handguns in the process. When I reached the outdoor range I decided shooting at about 100 meters would be good enough. Taking out the TAR first I got a feel for it. Every rifle is different but every rifle is the same. The weapon felt like a good balance of bulky power and ergonomic finesse. It sounded meaty with each round fired. The bullpup design making handling quite easy. It was an elegant mix of medium range accuracy and up-close maneuverability. Easily a versatile weapon that served its purpose well and could be relied upon to fit it's role.

I cleared the weapon and pulled out the next rifle. The F2000 was a strange design yes. However, due to it's seemingly otherworldly appearance. Most would dismiss the weapon as a cheap gimmick, unsuitable for combat. Nevertheless, I can full heartedly endorse the weapon as a viable marksman rifle. The recoil never got out of control and I had no problem hitting targets outside of 400 meters. Each shot was less of a bang and more of a precise crack! I could see myself firing this in a mission.

Finally, it was the M416. The handling and free movement this weapon provided was incredible. The parts were interchangeable and from what I'd seen this platform was extremely modular. Though, in its base form the weapon was best suited for CQC and urban combat. From what I'd heard, it was a favorite among Special Operations.

I cleared the M416 and pulled out the 2 handguns. I wasn't to concerned about getting a feel for the weapon as they weren't to different. The first was an all black, semi-automatic handgun with the designation as the USP. The other was a grey steel, more compact handgun with the name P226. Both were viable option, and I couldn't see myself using one over the other. I made a mental note that maybe more testing would be needed to see which one would be better for my type of missions.

I packed all of the weapons I'd used and returned them to the armory.

When I checked my watch the time was 4:55.

5 more minutes and the VRT members would be my first class. Basically, these guys were Vales SWAT teams. From what I'd heard, these guys began taking more and more casualties with the heavier White Fang presence in Vale. Ozpin had told the Police Chief that he was sending me in to help train them to handle a well-armed militia. Rather than ragtag rebels and insane criminals they were use too.

I walked back to the front lobby. By the time I reached it they would most likely be here.

I rounded the final corner and of course there they were. Clad in their all black BDU's and the duffel bags slung over their shoulders. They looked the part of a special unit for sure.

They stopped where they stood and held themselves slightly straighter from where they were. I folded my arms and looked at each one of them. I wasn't gonna fuck with them, these guys were professionals. I was here to simply train them, as far as I was concerned these guys were my equals.

"We'll handle introductions later. Gear up and head the killhouse." As each person shot to life with a new order to follow they filed out towards the locker room. I double-backed towards the killhouse and positioned myself on the catwalks facing the main entrance.

Less than 2 minutes had passed and the VRT members began filling into the room. Dressed in their black Tactical Vests and the heavy armor plating lining their legs and shoulders. The MICH helmets on their heads had their tactical goggles wrapped around them. The black balaclava that covered their face just barely exposing their eyes. They all were equipped with P226's and M416's. Of course each weapon was loaded with a paint-tip rounds. Or SIM rounds as they are more commonly called.

"Alright! Everyone listen up. My name is 2nd Lieutenant Reeves." I introduced myself by rank but other than training these men. I had no real acting authority over them outside of this building.

"I will be your training instructor for the duration of your classes at this facility. Listen to everything I teach you, and maybe. Just MAYBE. The next time you have to deal with a terrorist. His ass will be on the ground rather than yours!" I flipped through a small clipboard I forgot I had in my hand and went over what the next lesson was after this.

"Now… From my knowledge you guys are the best of the VPD. You're trained in hostage rescue, VIP protection, armed terrorist attacks, riot response, sieging and assaulting buildings, etc, correct?" I was met with a synchronized 'Yes Sir' from all of them.

"Great. Then you're gonna love this first lesson. Split yourselves into 2 teams. There's 18 of you guys so split into groups of 9." As they shuffled around the room 2 groups slowly formed on my left and right. This next part was gonna fuck with them hard.

"Alright. Now…" I pointed to the group on me left. "This group will be clearing the room. Your objective is to locate and extract a hostage from the killhouse. The place is pretty large so don't dawdle."

I then pointed to the group on my right. "As you may of guessed, you guys will be defending. Your job is to protect the VIP from and enemy assault. You guys get tasked with the protection of public figures all the time. So this should be easy."

I then told the assault team to head to the killhouse's entrance. They'd have to breach a door with either a battering ram or a good old sledgehammer. No explosives yet.

"Alright. Defending team, follow me to your VIP." I led them from atop the catwalk over a small space at the back of the killhouse. The room was small and rectangular, with 2 overturned desks in the middle of it. Behind it was the VIP. A dummy.

I returned to my position back on the catwalk and held a small remote control in my hand. Hopefully these guys weren't idiots and knew to put their goggles on. Because a SIM round still hurts in the right places.

I pressed down on a button near the top of my controller.

A loud siren blared in the background as some light smoke filled the room. Was it slightly over the top. Yes. Nonetheless, these guys needed to be ready when the time came.

The door shot open with a violent slam. A horde of VRT members flooded through the door. Each on cutting the entrance into his own piece and clearing it. At least these guys were the real deal like I'd been told. I walked from catwalk to catwalk, observing both teams. The defenders had placed themselves in a tight defence near the back of the killhouse. Scattered behind barricades in the halls of the maze I'd sent them into.

I blared the sirens even louder and began activating a few strobe lights placed in the facility. I heard the entry team communicating as they stacked up against a wall on the other side of the long halls within.

"Ready…"

"Copy."

"On your six"

"What is this fucking lazer tag now?"

The last comment got a chuckle out of me. Yes, these conditions were unrealistic. But they needed a chaotic environment to work in. Because I couldn't replicate the shake of your hands as the adrenaline pulses in your veins.

The screams and pleading of civilians outside, or even the hostage for that matter.

The blood covered walls and floors.

They pushed into the hallway. Splitting themselves equally on both sides. They pushed to the edge of the long corridor before reaching their point of interest. In the back of the small open space was the hostage room. In front of it was 3 lines of overturned furniture and cover.

They began fanning out into the room. Only to be greeted with hellfire as the defensive team started putting down fire from their positions.

The entry team reacted quickly and rushed for cover.

The number 1 man penetrated to deep as they breached into the open area. Failing to recognize the threats near the back of the room. In the same fashion, the number 2 and 3 men came through way too late. Without the multiple targets for the defenders to focus on the pointman was lit up. This only made it harder for the entry team.

As the rest of the team desperately tried to push out of the fatal funnel, 2 and 3 were pinned behind cover. As a last ditch effort the rest of the entry team pushed out while laying down fire. Not actually hitting anything, but laying down fire.

I began yelling at them as they firefight initiated. None of them paid me any heed though, at least their heads were on straight. The small firefight started closing as the entry team sloppily picked off the outside defenders and stacked up on the hostage room.

One by one they checked their weapons and used the simply 'shoulder squeeze' technique to signify that they were ready.

The door was busted open with another sledgehammer as the entry team bursted into the room properly this time. As each man found their target in rapid succession I could see the entry team get on edge.

Then the number 3 man shot the hostage square in the chest.

I slammed the 'STOP' button on my controller and called everyone out.

In front of me were all 18 members of the VRT.

"Congratulations gentleman. The hostage is dead. Reload and run it again!"

It was gonna be a long day…

 **High-Orbit above Talion IV**

 **UNSC** _ **Ascension**_

 **23 hours after the incident**

"Look… All I'm trying to say is that, this whole 'Portals and Dimensions' shit just ain't exactly our realm of understanding. For all we know the LT was torn apart in the whole mess?" The voice in question was Lance Corporal Martinez. Onyx Teams resident Designated Marksman and spotter. Former Scout Sniper as well. Hispanic in look and talk. His brown skin was quietly complemented by the black mop on his head.

A petite redheaded woman sat up from the top bunk. Her face covered in freckles and her eyes blue as the sky itself. "Riley… You're only saying that because this stuff freaks you out. I've seen the way you look anytime someone brings up the mission." Corporal Sierra was the best Marksman on the team and worked closely with Martinez. She only called him by his last name if things were serious. Other than that, she always called him Riley.

"Uh… YEAH! That's exactly why I'm saying that. You all seem WAY to confident in this plan." Martinez wasn't a pussy. He's been in countless battles despite his low rank. He was no stranger to danger.

A deep groggily voice cut into the conversation. As a Caucasian man rounded the corner of the bunks all eyes swung to him. His build was huge. Almost as if the shirt he wore was about to rip apart. His brown hair and eyes could intimidate almost anyone.

"The brass knows what it's doing for the most part… Martinez, we're going in after Reeves whether you like it or not. He brought us here, so we have to pull him out. We've got one more day until the rest of the reinforcements arrive and the operation begins. It'll be standard recon and report once we're in." The man was First Sergeant Cooper. He pulled a duffel bag out from under his bunks as he began leaving the room.

"Sierra, Martinez. Get the word spread to the rest of the team. Jones is somewhere in the workshop, testing some new equipment or something. Kerry and Deruld are in the mess hall grabbing chow. As for Derald… Last I heard he was at the range. Make it quick" Cooper exited the room leaving Sierra and Riley on their own as the prepared to look for the rest of their team.

 **Ascension Mess Hall**

"So… What 'ya think will be on the other side of that hole?" Kerry looked up from his cup of coffee towards Matthews. His eyes locked on Kerry's figure. His young appearance and slightly tanned skin color was blended with his shaved brown hair.

"I-I… Look. It doesn't really matter what I think. The spooks will send us in either way, might as well go with it." Kerry was only a Lance Corporal but he'd seen his fair share of action. We was apart of 1st Battalion 1st Marines before joining Force Recon. His unit was often stranded on their own in the field for long durations. He'd picked up a thing or 2 about guerrilla warfare in his time with them as well.

Matthews raised an eyebrow in intrigue for only a second before continuing to devour his chow. "All I'm saying man is that if we end up pissing off another race of genocidal aliens when we cross that gap… We might as well off ourselves." Kerry was stunned by the strange assumption. He was also glad that the people crowding the mess hall hadn't heard that as well.

Matthews hazel eyes connected with Kerry's. His dirty blonde rag on top of his head was just pushing the boundaries of regulation. The slight fuzz around his mouth was also demanding attention anytime it was exposed. His gravelly voice wasn't any better either.

"MATTHEWS, KERRY!" The somewhat annoying voice of Martinez broke through the white noise of the crowd. Their eyes shot up to the man in question. Wondering why their chow time was being interrupted.

"Cooper wants you in the bunks ASAP. He's gathering the team for a bit of a briefing. Sounds like some new details just popped up!" He held his hands out. In a 'I don't know' gesture.

The 2 Marines shot up from their tables and began jogging towards the bunks. Just one more day and the whole operation was going to begin.

They'd be ready.

 **1st Force Reconnaissance Company Bunks**

 **24 hours after the incident**

"Alright. The mission has changed slightly. We won't be securing an LZ." Onyx Team began shuffling nervously in their places as the words came out.

"We're still establishing the relay though. Afterwards, we'll be doing more direct recon. It's been theorized by the eggheads that we'd still be able to locate his IFF tag after the jump using the relay." Cooper finished his sentence before taking a seat on his bunk.

"Once we've got a fix on his position we'll be searching him down while mapping out the area we cover. Sending all geographical data back to the FOB so they can construct some maps." He then pulled out the holo-pad he kept on his rack as he read over.

"Another change is that we're not flying solo. As we conduct search and rescue, Granite and Metal team will strictly stick to getting the lay of the land." Some smiles and laughs were felt in the room. Running with other Force Recon teams was always a plus.

"On a final note the Operation has been given a name" The entirety of Onyx Team leaned forward while holding their breath.

"Operation: Dark Predator… Other than that, everything else is the same. So if that's all your dismissed. Operation begins in 22 hours."

The UNSC was taking a tremendous risk with this whole thing. However, if they could find something. Anything that might turn this war around. It would be worth it.

Once more unto the breach…

 **Wow… This took way too long to make. Anyway the next chapter will be coming out hopefully before October ends. Once that's done I will be returning to my other project. Halo: Force Recon for a bit as well.**

 **Hopefully you all enjoyed this installment. I know it hasn't been very actiony yet. But we will be seeing Reeves popping head next chapter.**

 **As he's called on a special assignment alongside Team RWBY. To a failed Vale expansion. To Mountain Glenn.**

 **As always. Reviews are always welcome of any sort. Feedback, criticism, or just telling me you hate it or love it. A review just gives me that nice shot of Dopamine I need in the day.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4 Soldiers Kill The Enemy

Chapter 4

Soldiers Kill The Enemy

The day concluded on a high note. Well, a higher one than I was expecting. The law enforcement officers of the VRT picked up what I was laying down very quickly. The good thing about working with these guys is that they weren't Hunters. They had been trained to somewhat handle these complex situations with ruthless efficiency.

Unlike Hunters and Huntresses, they weren't considered about the morality of taking a life if necessary. They wouldn't hesitate to kill in order to save a life.

My final class was a group of Special Forces operators from the Vale Army. No unit name or identification. All they could tell me was that they were Special Forces. I didn't need to teach them much. In fact they were probably sent to observe me.

Their positioning was perfect, tactics were solid, and how they handled a gun was amazing at worst. Damn near perfect at best. The only thing they really needed help with was outdoor navigation. They'd been so use to working within the Kingdom due to the excessive use of Hunters outside of the walls that they were kinda confused at first.

I taught them advanced recon and target acquisition before testing them in a nearby forest that had been booked for training.

Despite me calling it a day, it was only about 12:45 PM.

That's when I got the call from Ozpin.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Practically begging for my attention.

I lifted the scroll up to my ear.

"Ozpin…" I was left with a long silence before I got a reply.

"Reeves. Good to hear from you again. I must say that I'm pleased with today's results, I've already got Division Commanders within Vales Army requesting training from you. The VRT and Special Forces seemed quite happy as well." A smile creeped up on my face. At least I'd found my calling in this new world.

I'd also be getting paid too. So… That was always a plus.

"That's good to hear Headmaster, but I'm sure you called to give me more than praise?" Another long silence followed.

"Well… Yes. I've got an assignment for you. I'll brief you in my office, you've got 20 minutes. It's a tight window I'm afraid." Whatever it was, it was serious.

"No problem, I'll be there in 15." I hung up the phone. A bit rude yes, but if he needed me that quick then I couldn't spare time for proper etiquette. I slung my duffel bag around my shoulder and began jogging to the air docks. The streets were beginning to come to life however. Not too many people, most were at work.

In 5 minutes I had made it to the airship and began boarding. A few strange looks from nearby civilians was all I got as I entered. Well… Maybe not civilians. This was an airship to Beacon, so I figure they're just students or something.

The trip takes about 3 minutes this time. As the airship jolts to a stop and the doors slide open in unison. I began jogging out of the airship again. My duffel bag making clunking and clanking sounds as I ran. I drew even more eyes as I ran through the open courtyard towards Ozpin's tower.

I slowed myself down at the base of the large tower. No need to cause any further disruption. I pushed the door open and made my way to the elevator.

Calling my ride down I waited impatiently at the bottom.

The door slowly opened as I walked in. I sent the elevator up to his office and waited even further. Despite all of this worlds technology that we don't have, you'd think they'd have faster elevators.

This whole planet was a headache in the making. Seemingly a replication of 21st century Earth, but stuff that even we don't have. Plasma rifles, fully-automated combat androids, the list goes on. The shit kinda made me confused.

As the elevator came to a grinding halt and the doors once again opened, there was Ozpin. Standing in front of his desk. In a rather worried posture I might add.

'Something is definitely up'

"Good… You're early." I stood face to face with him as he pushed his glasses up.

"We don't have much time as this is on short notice." he then handed me what looked like a normal scroll, except there was lots of external wiring and even a small antenna on the top of it.

"You'll need this… 3 hours ago Team RWBY signed up for a Search and Destroy mission in Quadrant 5. However, i cleared the mission to them knowing full well they were hunting a possible White Fang hideout." I could see where this was going.

"So… Do you want me to get a Tier 1 unit ready. Have them sent in once they find it?" Ozpin and I both knew that these Hunters-in-training, especially Team RWBY, just couldn't handle taking down a terrorist stronghold effectively. They'd try and do it without neutralizing the threats. Even worse, they may not come back at all.

"Not quite… That was my original idea. The council decided it would be 'too aggressive' and a waste of Government assets if nothing was found. So I called you." This was about to get weird, wasn't it?

"I can't send you with them. A military operative being sent with a first year team would only cause confusion and controversy… So you'll be heading in separately in your own bullhead to Quadrant 5. Keep tabs on the team and if they locate the stronghold. Use that scroll to contact me. It's been upgraded with increased range." I began making my way to the elevator as ozpin called out again.

"And Reeves… Should they be caught in a fight. I trust that you will do what's necessary alongside the Professor supervising them to keep them safe. Once things have gotten out of hand, don't be afraid to show yourself and do what you can… Your Bullhead leaves in 10 minutes. Good luck."

I nodded and went down the elevator.

I had fully geared up and decided it'd be best to stick to my guns for this mission. Literally… Id' be using my SOCOM and BR55 for this one. No way in hell I was going out in the field with weapons I'd just held for the first time.

I hopped in the Bullhead and went up to the cockpit.

"I'm all set! Get this bird in the air will 'ya!" I had to shout as the engines weren't exactly subtle. "You know where you're taking me!"

The pilot nodded before inquiring about the location.

"Quadrant 5. Mountain Glenn, you must have some big balls to head up there. Lot's of Grimm in the area, a team was just sent about 1 hour ago. Lost comms with their Huntsman once they went in!" I only nodded back in reply and sat down in the back of the bird.

I kept the door open as the Bullhead began taking off. I didn't know how long the ride was gonna be, but I wasn't falling asleep.

"That's a nice helmet you've got there! Atlas design!?"he was referring to my Gungnir helmet. The pilot was obviously trying to make small talk. Personally, I was trying to think about the mission ahead.

"No!" The engine was getting louder as we began cruising over the Forests below at a very low altitude.

"Well damn! Never seen anything like it!" The pilot went back to his controls as he began making some adjustments to the flight trajectory.

I went over the mission details in my head.

Mountain Glenn, a failed Vale expansion that was now an abandoned ghost town overrun by Grimm. What was most interesting though, was the underground railway that connected directly to the city. Apparently they were still there, they'd just been blocked off.

Destroyed urban environment with plenty of ambush points and hostile wildlife. If I was lucky, Team RWBY would attract most of the Grimms attention, allowing me to stay hidden. It also helped that anytime they fought, they weren't exactly QUIET.

Hours seemed to pass by with no end in sight. Until a voice broke through.

"ETA: 10 minutes! I'll fly you as far into the city as possible. Anything outside would most likely get attacked by Grimm! You'll have to rappel down though!" The pilot was obviously focusing very hard, what with the mountainous terrain and all.

I nodded and checked my weapons and gear.

The sun was beginning to go down as I looked out the side of the Bullhead. As it fell behind the mountains it gave off an ominous glow. As if it were protecting itself behind them.

I couldn't help but admire the beauty of this planet. If it weren't for the unstable Governments, terrorist groups, and crazed wildlife, it would be a big tourist spot for sure.

I had lost track of the time as pilot warned me I had 60 seconds to hook up. He didn't want to stay long. The engine would attract more Grimm to the LZ, and possibly even a Nevermore.

As the Bullhead circled the LZ, a broken courtyard filled with rubble and scars to bear I began hooking up.

The pilot came over comms one final time as the Bullhead stabilized.

"You are dropping into some deep shit my friend. Hope you've got someone down there helping you out with whatever you're here for!" I leaned off the side of the aircraft. Holding onto my line preparing to jump.

"I'll be fine… I do this shit all the time!" I launched myself off the Bullhead as I began my descent. I reached the ground and unhooked myself from the apparatus. The Bullhead started rolling to it's left and pitching upwards. Flying away, leaving me in a dead city.

The Sun had fully gone down at this point. Only the moon was left to fleetingly light the night.

I switched on my helmets NVG's and began making my way to there most likely location. Luckily it seemed I was near where they landed.

Bullet casings were littered along the streets. Bullet holes in the wall that were way to fresh for this decrepit city. Even a few crater markings from what I was assuming was the hothead. Yang.

I lifted off my helmet and smelt one of the shells. The spent mix of chemical powders was still evident inside the casing. So I followed the crumb trail.

Turns out these guys burned through ammo pretty damn fast. Which raised the question. Where did they keep all these rounds? I saw Ruby carrying a few spare rounds on her outfit but for the rest? I couldn't see any other magazines or rounds on them.

I followed the trail of destruction and spent casings. Keeping myself out of sight and using my photo-reactive camo to blend in with the city around me.

Then my NVG's picked it up. The faint glow of a fire, about 8-9 stories up in an apartment complex. Switching off my NVG's I could see one of them laying against some ruble at a window.

It was Ruby. She was sweeping the area with her Sniper scope. Since I had found their camp I needed to find a place I could stay and keep my eyes on them.

'These building would do' I sneaked inside one of the adjacent buildings and proceeded to the floors near the top of it. She was probably only concerned about watching the streets below and making sure nothing got in the building.

So I stayed there. Watched from a distance and used my Helmets enhanced imaging to make sure nothing happened. I watched as Ruby soon left her post and was replaced by Weiss. She stayed in the exact same position.

Of course she didn't really have anything to help her see in the night. Unless that rapier turned into a pair of binoculars she wasn't really doing anyone any good.

So eventually she left and in her absence came Blake. She was at least keeping watch correctly. Scanning buildings, checking low angles, even walking through the halls to make sure it was clear. I hid myself even further in the shadows when she came out. She had good senses and instincts. I wasn't going to take any risks.

Finally, as the Sun began to crawl over the edge of the Mountain, Blake went to sleep and Yang took the final shift. She seemed more interested in the scenery than anything. If she wasn't gonna keep watch then I would.

At one point I saw what looked like 2 people moving in between my sight lines. I couldn't confirm it though. I wanted to check it out but my job was to simply observe until an engagement. I kept my eyes on their building until I saw a small dog that I had failed to notice before. Get up and leave. It ran off not to far into the streets. It wasn't a war dog. More like a Corgi.

Then Ruby woke up. She looked around in a confused daze before suddenly jolting to life and sneaking out of the building. She ran up to the dog that was taking a leak on a destroyed building out front. She was startled by something and picked up the dog. She creeped her way farther down the road.

I decided to follow from my building. She was sneaking from one side of the road to another before I found what she was stalking. 2 White Fang terrorist's. They were discussing something and Ruby just kept following.

I groaned internally as I kept watch. Training my rifle on their chests if things got ugly.

Ruby hid behind a destroyed wall as the 2 men entered through a door that seemed to lead underground. Huh?

I saw Ruby fiddle on her phone for a few seconds before trying to walk back to her camp.

The the ground got hungry I guess.

The road gave out from beneath her as she fell into the pits below. Her weapon lay on the edge and that dog was barking up a storm.

'Well shit. Time to do some talking.'

I rushed down the stairs of my own apartment and ran across the street into theirs. The corgi was ahead of me and barking the entire way. If the kids didn't kill me then the Grimm would.

I rounded a corner as the Corgi headed into a room 4 doors down and continued barking at a deafening pitch.

"Zwei?"

"What's going on?"

A male voice i hadn't heard before interjected suddenly as I was reaching their room.

"Grab your weapons! Your leader may be in trouble…"

At this moment I rounded the corner as an alarming speed. Causing Blake and Yang to draw their weapons. While a tall, green haired man, simply looked at me quizzingly.

"I think I can help you find her!" I immediately sputtered out in a rushed tone. If i didn't say anything, they might try and gut me again.

"Reeves!?" Was the first response I got from a pretty annoyed Weiss.

"What are you doing here?" Blake questioned next. This time it was a little more polite.

I racked my charging handle menacingly before speaking. "Look, I don't have time to explain. Follow me and I'll take you to where Ruby is!"

The group exchanged a few looks of notable mistrust before nodding.

I lead them down the streets to the giant hole in the ground where Ruby had fallen. Her weapon still at it's side.

"Do you think she fell?" Was Weiss' first question as we approached it. The green man then started zipping from place to place faster than a bullet as he began explaining what was up with the caves.

I tuned out as I fired up my connection to Ozpin.

"Ozpin, I've located a possible stronghold. Their held up underground in a system of caves beneath Glenn." I finished the message and walked up to the edge of the hole. They all looked down in curiosity as i simply spiked a rappel line down.

"What are you doing?" Asked Yang.

"What am I doing little lady?" I leaned over the edge. Holding onto the line tightly.

"I am going down there and doing my job. You can tag along if you like but my main objective is to fuck there shit up down there." I then prepared to jump before being interrupted my Blake.

"How exactly? There could be close to a hundred White Fang members down there!" I made a mental note that we differed on 2 things. I called them terrorists, she called them members. Like it was a book club or something.

"These guns aren't for show sweety. Now I expect to see your asses down here." I then jumped off the side and slid down the line all the way to the bottom.

As I plunged into the darkness below I decided to just let my eyes naturally adjust to the black, rather than switch to NVG's. I looked around and was caught off guard by the shear size of these sub-terraining caves.

They were huge. If the kid hadn't died from the fall then she's be lost for sure. I finally reached the bottom and unlatched my line. I caught it as it fell from the top of the cave in my hand.

There were buildings and railroad tracks all over the place. It was a whole underground city!

I followed a train track that ran through the whole complex to what appeared to be a freight train. Only instead of cargo, it was holding passenger cars and small cattle like box cars. I could see as they White Fang loaded boxes and other cargo into each one. Only a few 2 man patrols guarded the track. They didn't expect to be found I suppose.

I stayed low and creeped behind broken walls and structures to get as close to the train as possible. I caught glimpse of a rather large crate being lifted into the train that had wires running in and out of it. My mind immediately thought bomb. Though, more like and IED.

I rounded a small pile of ruble to where 2 of the White Fang stood. No one was around and they seemed to be the only one guarding this area.

"If that girl found us she can't be alone. There's probably more coming. I've heard the boss already talking about speeding things up?" The first one spoke. It was a male voice, and upon further inspection I could see a dark skin color peeking out from behind his uniform. His antlers were also something I could ponder on later.

"Doesn't matter. Even if we start now, those scum-suckers in Vale won't know what happened when this thing busts through!" The second voice was a female. Very young. Maybe mid-twenties. She had a pale complexion and a cougar tail sticking out of here… Uh? Tailbone. She seemed excited about whatever this plan was.

I didn't let their chat continue as I held my combat knife in one hand and my SOCOM in the other. The advanced suppressor made the thing nearly silent, and even in an echoey environment like this one, no one would hear it.

I pinned the gun to the back of the man's head and slid my knife under the throat of the girl. Pulling the trigger and slicing at the same time, both bodies dropped instantly. The man fell face first into the dirt beneath him. A halo of blood forming around his head.

The girl wasn't so lucky.

She dropped to her knees, desperately trying to cover the gash in her neck. The blood spewed out and small droplets stained my left leg. With her last breath she looked up to my figure with shear terror in her eyes.

Whether that terror was from me or the impending doom she face… Perhaps both. Didn't matter though. She was just another corpse on my conscious.

I moved up to the side of the train and started moving to the front. As I reached the front I could see that the tip of the train was heavily armored. As if it were meant to split open the side of a building. What were they planning on doing?

A White Fang fighter broke around the corner, completely unaware of me on the other side. As it rounded the side of the train it caught a look at me. A startled gasp was all that he got out as I pulled him into cover and wrapped him in a head-lock.

He frantically clawed at my plated arms, trying to break free of my grasp. I was about to snap his neck when a thought arose in my head.

I leaned close to his ear and started speaking in a hushed tone.

"What's the plan with this train? You better tell me the truth and maybe I'll let you live. Lie? Well, your last partners weren't so lucky." I pointed towards the dead bodies of his fallen comrades as his eyes widened and he let out a muffled scream of grief.

"So? You wanna talk?"

The man nodded at a rapid pace. Eager to save his life.

I brought my arm down from his mouth and held the knife at his throat just a LITTLE tighter. He let out a whispered breath of relief.

"T-the train. We're loading it with explosives then sending it down the tracks towards Vale! The cars will detach and explode, creating a path for Grimm to follow us as we enter the city." I added up what he said with what I had seen from earlier. It made sense for a bunch of violent fanatics to undertake a suicide mission to create chaos.

I wasn't buying it though. The tunnels to Vale had been sealed long ago.

"That's gonna cost you. The tracks to Vale were sealed years ago. Start talking sense or I'll just ask someone more cooperative" I pushed the knife tighter against his skin. Drawing a small amount of blood.

"That's what the trains for. They've outfitted it so it's bust through the tracks along railways section D! Directly, into the heart of the city. I swear that's all I know, now please just let me live!" he clearly wasn't suicidal about this whole plan. I'd actually heard a tinge of remorse when he explained it. Didn't matter though. I couldn't risk him waking up.

I wanted to validate his claims though…

"Call one of your friends here." he seemed confused by the idea at first before complying.

"H-Hey… Um? Taylor, I need a hand over here." He hollered out to the person in question.

"On my way man… I swear you couldn't even dress yourself in the morning." I heard footsteps begin to come from the front of the train. Deciding that it would be easier to manage 1 hostage over 2… I slit the guys throat and waited for the other to appear from the corner.

He did.

I grabbed him and slammed him on the ground with lethal intention.

"Listen up. You've got 30 seconds to explain what you're using this train for. If you bullshit me like he did." I pointed at his friend who was still squirming in a pool of his own blood. "I'll gut you too!"

He told me the exact same thing the first one had.

I had heard enough of his pleas and twisted his neck with a satisfying SNAP.

I crouched down and leaned around the front of the train. Only to see the reason I'd found this place all together.

Ruby Rose. She was being dragged back by a small hook that looked like the top of the cane. I followed the line back to its user, only to find a very stylish man wearing a browler.

"Let me make this clear!" he seemed to announce to everyone in a 60 foot radius.

"We're not through here yet." He flipped the hook to the top of his cane as he smiled deviously. I wondered whether I should pop him immediately but decided that it was to risky. He was out in the open and had 3 armed guards around him. If even 1 of them called out or fired a shot, I'd have this place on me in no time.

I had to stay stealthy and wait for my opportunity.

I couldn't afford a direct confrontation so it was time to work from the shadows.

 _BOOM_

A thunderous eruption rocked the cave. I didn't even have to guess who it was.

 _BOOM_

A second detonation shook the cavern once more. The person, who I assumed was the boss, got very irritated by the interruption.

I could see fighters appear farther down the tracks, running for their lives. Firing back with reckless abandon. It was them. They just had to mess it up!

Yang exploded around the buildings with her team and Huntsmen in tow. Ruby took this opportunity to break for it again.

"SOMEBODY KILL HER!" The boss shouted. As all of the men around him opened fire on Ruby. They missed every shot, she wasn't even evading at all. She basically just ran straight towards her team.

I held in a laugh and decided it'd be best to think a step ahead. I looked back at the group of hostiles in front of me only to see that the boss had left. I then shot my eyes back towards Team RWBY. Yang was smothering her sister in a warm hug. Normally that would be understandable

However, THEY WERE STILL IN THE LINE OF FIRE.

The group combatants in front of me loaded their weapons once more and prepared to gun down Team Rwby as they exchanged words like it was a tea party or something.

I brought my rifle up quickly and started popping heads IMMEDIATELY.

 _CRACK_

First guy goes down with a round sailing through his cranium.

 _CRACK CRACK_

2 more fall dead to the ground as my 2 bullets punch right through their chests.

 _CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK_

The signature snaps and cracks of the BR55 echoed through the whole place as the final 4 dropped like ragdolls. With 29 rounds still left in the mag I ran past the pile of bodies and began moving towards the entrance to the caboose.

I saw 3 more people climbing inside of the caboose as I neared it. They were startled by my presence and reached for their sidearms. I quickly shot all 3 down and climbed inside. 26 rounds left.

I scanned the inside of the caboose to make sure it was clear before taking a knee and contacting Ozpin once more.

"Oz. I know you're receiving this! Contact Vale authorities or any military body NOW! The White Fang are about to bust a hole through the Mountain Glenn railway, section D right into the heart of the city with lots of Grimm following behind!" I paused to catch my breath as I had basically been screaming.

"I don't have much time to explain but I'm gonna attempt to stop the train!"

I was about to disconnect when he cut through.

"Understood Reeves. I'll attempt to contact nearby authorities, Huntsman, and have the school on standby." I was gonna reply but he hung up immediately.

I got back on my feet and moved towards the door of the car I was in. Abruptly Team RWBY and the Huntsman burst into the Caboose. Of course their eyes naturally shot to the 3 dead bodies in the room. I wasn't ready for an argument on morality so I decided to speak first.

"Kind of you to join me. This train is B-lining it straight to Vale. I'm gonna head uptop to avoid having to fight through each box car. Again, you're welcome to join." I then opened up the door and climbed up the ladder on the outside of the train to the top.

Their eyes never leaving me in the process.

This time they stayed with me as I reached the top. Once we had climbed to the roof Weiss pulled up a hatch that she had seen as we climbed.

"Alright children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" The Huntsman was clearly speaking to Team RWBY because I was no child.

Weiss cut in as she looked down through the hatch, mortified. "Uh..? Professor Oobleck." The now named Oobleck came beside her as she pointed towards something inside of the hatch innocently. I moved next to her as I looked at it too.

"What's that?" She genuinely asked.

Oobleck peared at the object for a few moments. I knew what it was though. So I decided I should probably speak up.

"That would be a bomb. More specifically, and IED that I saw them loading up earlier before you guys showed up." Their jaws dropped to the floor as they looked at me.

"So why didn't you tell us this?" Was Blake's first reaction. The only thing I could think about was how working with these kids was gonna get me killed however.

"Well… I was sorta doing my job of scouting out the stronghold until tits McGee over here set these guys to kill. Which turned a precise and calculated 30 minute job into a 2 minute, break-neck rollercoaster!" I was showing some of my anger visibly with hand motions.

"Oh and was killing those people part of your job!" This time Blake interjected. Something was up with her. She took me killing them personally. As if it was meant for her or something?

"They're not people, they're targets. Don't get mad because I have the balls to do what's necessary!" I was already getting side tracked as I began moving over to the next car.

That's when the caboose detached automatically. Team RWBY jumped to my car as the caboose fell behind and exploded. Opening up holes in the tunnel that the Grimm were very keen on entering.

This was it. The puzzled looks on all their faces wasn't helping the situation either.

"Look! We need to find some way to stop the train. My first thought was to get to the controls but at this rate we'd have better luck just trying to destroy the train before it reaches its target! I can plant some charges and we can bail before I set them off." I leveled my rifle and picked off 2 grunts that had climbed on top trying to stop us.

The bodies slamming into the metal roof and flopping on the sidetrack lifeless.

"That would kill everyone on board!" This time it was Weiss who felt like mentioning the fact that people die.

"Even better!" A shocked pause was felt in the group as they recoiled back. "Look, we can try and make our way there non-lethally which will take to long. Or we can get the job done!" From their furious faces it was clear that they prefered option 1. "Fine. I'll do it myself. Create some noise and let them focus on you. I'll stop this train!" The wind was rushing violently. We had to yell in order to hear one another properly.

Clearly, not liking my plan they rushed forward towards the group of enemies I'd been shooting at. They seemed to intentionally fall in my sights as to avoid me shooting anyone. I groaned loudly as I looked towards Oobleck.

"I understand that you believe that your way is the most efficient. For the most part your right. Nonetheless, they simply aren't ready for it yet." The Professor seemed keen on annoying me also. I growled again and made my way forward. Leaving behind one last comment.

"Then what the hell are they doing in the field!" I rushed up to the group they were fighting and almost went into a zen mode. My senses were on point as I acquired targets. It didn't matter how hard they tried to stop me from completing my mission. I would stop this train by any means necessary.

I precisely fired round after round into enemy combatants.

 _CRACK_

 _CRACK_

 _CRACK_

 _CRACK_

 _CRACK_

My weapon ran dry as I reached for a new mag. Ejecting the used cartridge and placing it into a dump pouch I slipped a fresh load in. Continuing the onslaught.

As Team RWBY was just finishing up with the few they had engaged. They noticed that I'd killed nearly 14 -15 other enemies while they were fighting.

I took aim at another one before something grabbed the side of my rifle throwing me off balance. It was Blake again.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS." She held my rifle up, attempting to stop me from saving their lives. The soldier, realising that the other 3 would have to rush him to knock him. Raised his rifle. Weiss, Yang and Ruby all raced forward as he aimed the weapon towards either Blake or me.

"THIS ISN'T RIGHT!" Screamed Blake. I could see some tears well in her eyes as she proclaimed what she said.

My head shot back and forth from the gunmen and her rapidly. I attempted to get her off me without sending her over the side of the train but I couldn't find a way.

Time slowed as I looked at the soldier. His breath stabilized and his aim remained true. Yang, Ruby, and Weiss were at least 15 feet away from him.

Then he fired.

3 shots sailed through the air.

The first missed.

The second hit Blake in the side, causing no real damage due to her aura. I wasn't so lucky.

The final round somehow hit right in between the gaps of my chest plate. Ripping through the flesh in my left side. I'd been shot before but it still fucking hurts.

My grip on the rifle loosened and I fell to my side in pain. I may of been a Marine Force Recon, but I'm still human. I'm not a Spartan, the agony shot through my body like wildfire as I sprawled on the ground.

"FUCK! ASSHOLE!" I let out a holler of cuss words that I probably should never repeat. My HUD showed that my vitals had only dropped to about a 75%. Which meant I wasn't dying.

I could faintly pick up the sounds of them beating the pour sod that had shot me.

Blake, who didn't seem too affected, dropped to her knees and began checking my wound.

"I-I'm so sorry I didn't meant to- I didn't know!" She spat out in a confused mess.

I swiped her away with my hand and sat straight up. Leaning on my right arm.

"I got it, I got it" I insisted. Last thing I needed was for her to try and do something again. I could feel the entry and exit wounds on my fingers, clear as day. To the displeasure of my body though, it stung like hell when I found them.

The bullet had gone through clean. It was just a flesh wound basically. I stuttered a sigh of relief and got to my feet. My rifle still slung to my side. They saw as I got to my feet and stood straight up in bewilderment. Clear awe in their eyes.

"H-how are you? H-how did you?" Sputtered out Yang in disbelief.

I simply held a finger up and hushed her.

"Trust me, I've had worse… Hush up for a sec. I gotta concentrate." I pulled a small bio-foam canister from my hip. It wouldn't even seal the wound completely as it was smaller than most canisters. It just eased the pain a bit. "Don't stop for me. Stop the train, I'll catch up!" I applied the bio-foam as the girls rushed off.

The foam reacted with my wound like a thousand tiny knives all cutting up my inside before the pain numbing agents set in. I shrugged my shoulders and shook out the pain I just had. Bringing my BR55 up to my shoulder I decided to keep moving.

Taking a glance back down the railroad track I could see that 2 more cars had detached. In their wake came an ever growing army of Grimm. Worst part was that my car was next.

Leaping across the gap to the other car I started putting some distance between me and the end of the train. Much to my wounds displeasure.

Oobleck spoke up to Team RWBY as we jogged down the train.

"You 3! Go below and try and stop those bomb!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake all jumped into the cars below immediately. Leaving the Professor, Ruby and I to stay uptop.

"Reeves! I need you to keep White Fang soldiers off of us as we deal with those Atlas mechs up ahead!" I tilted my head at the strange command before looking down the train.

A giant, grey mech that would give the Mantis a run for its money was gunning straight for us. I dropped to a stable stance and did as the Huntsman told me. While they were distracted with the mech, I had to keep the grunts off of them.

Picking them off man by man I could see Ruby and Oobleck stare down the robotic beast in their path. Oobleck seemed to fire some sort of fireball towards the first that knocked it clean off the side. A second one appeared shortly after.

Figuring that what was about to happen would only distract me I moved up behind them slowly as to not lose focus on any other Fang soldiers. The bio-foam was doing it's best to keep the hole in my side sealed but the speed at which we were traveling only made it harder for it to counteract.

Swapping my mags out for the 3rd time I checked how many I had left.

6 left… I'd be fine for the time being.

Another mech flew off the side of the train and I began getting more aggressive as the pain inside me spiked. A few rounds nailed me in the chest piece but I barely felt it with all the adrenaline. I usually don't get adrenaline rushes anymore. I can stay calm and keep my nerves still. Maybe it was just this strange world throwing me through a loop. Maybe I'd just forgotten what it was like to be shot. I didn't care.

Pushing past the blitz going on with Ruby and Oobleck. My firing became more precise and quicker. Instead of a steady _CRACK… CRACK._ My tempo was reaching closer to _CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK._ In quick succession.

As the last man fell Oobleck and Ruby moped up. Only for 3 more to appear about 50 meters behind them. Oobleck talked to Ruby before he rushed off towards the mechs alone and she ran to the front. Oobleck then called out to Ruby one last time.

"RUBY! STAY WITH REEVES" She nodded and ran to my side. Clearly trying to ignore the blood splatters and bits of flesh painting the roof of the train. As we stood side by side her other teammates climbed next to us.

I looked ahead and saw that we were about to hit the entrance.

'Alright Ozpin… here's hoping you held up your part of the plan!'

They exchanged a panicked look towards me. I gazed down to where I'd need to place explosives to derail the train but even then. We were just going too fast and we were to close.

"SHIT! There's not enough time derail the train with explosives. Hope you girls got something special in your pocket. Because we're about to be turned into paste." Ruby and Weiss exchanged a smug grin before she spun and planted her rapier in the ground.

A sphere of thick ice surrounded us as we all braced for impact.

"This is gonna hurt…" is all I let out before everything went black.

 **UNSC Ascension**

 **11 hours before Operation: Dark Predator**

 **Observation Deck**

The reinforcements had arrived. A large cluster of ships all exited slipspace seemingly at once. The ships AI read about 163 in total. 23 Carriers, 13 Cruisers, 1 Super-Heavy Cruiser, Around 70 Destroyers, more Frigates than the Major would of liked to count, and 5 ONI Prowlers. The massive force had been designated as Battle Group Ascension. A tip of the hat to the ship the Major was placed in currently.

They had 11 hours before the whole thing began. Clearly the Navy and HIGHCOM were trying to stress the importance of this portal. A safezone had been uploaded to all the ships navigation parameters. It was set in place due to the fact that if any ship crossed the safe zone, they'd riske getting sucked inside the thing.

Onyx Team was already preparing for the mission ahead. Eager to find their CO.

The Major was already speaking with other Company and Battalion leads. Trying to coordinate logistics as quickly as possible. They may of had 11 hours left but time flew quickly. It didn't the ONI Advisor was breathing down his neck for constant updates.

11 hours and Operation: Dark Predator would begin.

11 hours…

 **Remnant**

 **Vale**

 **11 hours before Operation: Dark Predator**

The world came back into color as I could hear sirens and screams in the distance. My HUD stuttered with static before fixing itself. My eyes and ears were muffled by the constant ringing in my hearing and the pulsating pain in my head.

"Oh good… A concussion."

We all got our bearing when a massive rumbling was felt in the ground. Nearby civilians looked around in terror and confusion.

A massive snake burst through the whole that the train created and with it came a horde of Grimm. The snake twirled and twisted before setting it's sight on nearby humans who had been coming towards the crash site. They tried to turn and run but the snake simply snatched one of them up. Ripping through the poor man's flesh like paper mache with it's razor like fangs. Blood spewed on the pavement and street.

More people started running only to be chased down by more and more Grimm.

Deciding that I was done watching the show I lifted my rifle up and began firing at the nearest Grimm. The loud shots got the snakes attention.

"Yang, Weiss, take care of this fucking serpent!" I pointed at the massive hole in the road before addressing the rest of the team.

"Ruby and Blake! Bottleneck the breach, we need to slow 'em down 'till the authorities arrive. I'll handle the leftovers." They did as I asked and moved to a better position. Yang and Weiss started doing hit 'n' runs on the giant snake. All the while Ruby and Blake cut down any Grimm attempting to get through. I started picking off the few that had made it out and did so with the civilians in mind.

The snake fell dead soon but there were just too many coming to bottleneck. We had to fall back to the plaza square. The good news was that we made so much noise that the Grimm were focused on us rather than the people around.

We held a tight circle as the beasts kept throwing themselves at us. From bipedal werewolves all the way to giant bears, they just kept coming. I was beginning to think we were gonna be overrun when a message popped up in my hud. As I loaded another mag in I read it outloud to RWBY.

"We've got 4 Beacon teams already enroute. ETA: 1 minute. VRT and Vale military personnel are 30 seconds away! Hold tight for the Calvary!" As I hollered that out I could hear the sounds of Helicopters in the distance.

"Team RWBY this is Pheonix 1-1, Keep your heads down. You've got danger close." A little embarrassed that they had thought I was on their team as the message came in through my headset and their scrolls. I let out a small chuckle.

The Grimm had their eyes immediately drawn to the 3 choppers flying in a V-pattern towards us. They looked like normal Blackhawks but that was beside the question.

Team RWBY tilted their heads to me as Ruby spoke.

"Danger close?" I wanted to slap myself but I was wearing my Gungnir helmet. So I decided against the gesture.

I could hear as the guns on the choppers spun up and did the first logical thing.

I tackled Ruby to the ground while shouting to her Team.

"IT MEANS HIT THE FUCKING DECK!"

The loud and iconic BRRRRRRT of the miniguns filled the air.

I scanned the area to see Grimm being torn apart and cut down where they stood. The pilots finished their sweep before circling back around and dropping down ropes near us.

I pointed back towards the breach and more and more Grimm poured out of the thing like a cut artery. "WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" They dropped back into their stance and began cutting down Grimm one by one.

A thought creeped into my mind at that moment. If these guys were trained to kill… Imagine how effective they'd be in combat. I shook my head and acquired a new target.

At least I would've if 2 giant scorpions didn't rip around the side of the buildings like it was a drift race. As the soldiers around me continued firing we all began backing up. The choppers waved off as aerial Grimm were attempting to ground them. The lesser Grimm stayed behind the scorpions for cover as they gained more ground.

One of the soldiers near me activated his radio.

"We've got Deathstalkers advancing on our position! If we don't get Hunter support right fucking now we won't be able to contain this!" As if on queue, 4 Bullheads flew over us as 4 beacon teams dropped down and started pushing back the Grimm.

Team Rwby joined as they literally leaped into the fray.

Yang was sending Grimm flying with her furious punches and shotgun blasts. She then focused on annoying the hell out of the now named, Deathstalker. Her rounds didn't seem to do more than make it flinch. She kept firing though.

Blake was pouncing from beast to beast. Slicing and slashing her way through all of them. Leaving behind minced and mangled corpses that quickly dissolved.

Ruby was zipping around the place and a speed that would make even our fighter jets jealous. Using her snipers recoil to propel her weapon around and cut through enemies seemed like a smart idea but must of been hell on her ammunition reserves.

Weiss on the other hand stayed stationary. Using glyph like projections and what i was assuming was dust to provide support from afar.

It was an amusing sight to watch. Like an action movie. I may not want any of them with me when I'm hunting terrorists but if I'm dealing with Grimm… Hunters lived up to their name certainly.

I looked to the men around me who were in just as much awe as I was. Time to get back to work.

"What are y'all looking at! C'mon we've got shit to do!" I rushed forward into the skirmish ahead. Completely disregarding my bullet would, even after the fact the bio-foam had worn off long ago.

As the battle raged on I looked up to see a fleet of airships above. I then witnessed combat androids dropping from the sky and onto the carnage below. The tides of the battle seemed to be changing.

The Grimm were outnumbered and outgunned but those Deathstalkers were still keeping them in this. Not to mention all CAS was unavailable due to the giant fucking crow harassing nearby choppers.

That's when a chick who looked like she belonged in a fashion weekly magazine waltzed up to the scene.

She then proceeded to kick a Grimm in the balls and smash it's face into the cement with a briefcase. This world just got crazier and crazier the longer I was here. What I didn't expect however was what she did next.

Her briefcase transformed into a massive 7 barrel, gatling gun. The weapon literally tore through Deathstalkers and any other Grimm in its path like a freight train. She also shot down the aerial Grimm with little to no effort. I had to figure out what that thing fired.

I jogged up next to her and forgot about the battle completely.

"What the fuck kinda round does that that thing fire!" I gasped out.

She calmly lowered her shades, eyeballed me and responded

"30 X 173 MM" She plainly stated.

"How are your arms still attached to your body!?" I let out in a flustered mess.

"It's amazing what aura can do when used properly…" She then walked off with the rest of her team. Man, I want off this planet NOW.

The flow of Grimm slowed to a dead halt as military personnel began picking off any Grimm leftover by the Huntsman. Glynda used some sort of telekinesis to seal the breach. In a matter of seconds the whole thing just stopped.

Like I said back at the training center. The sudden silence.

Everyone patted themselves on the back like everything was okay.

The blood-soaked bodies and mangled corpses said otherwise. EMTs and paramedics started working on the wounded pedestrians of the incident. Eventually the congratulations stopped as the Hunters and Huntresses in training realized the devastation left behind.

I found a medic who bandaged me up properly before returning to Team RWBY.

We exchanged a shared look of sorrow before snow white spoke up.

"Reeves… have you ever, 'ya know-" I cut her off mid sentence. I knew what she was about to say,

"Seen anything like this before?... Yes. And on a much, MUCH. Bigger scale." The final words leave my mouth as a small, sad chuckle escapes. All of the Beacon teams suddenly look at me.

I remove my helmet and look around.

"What happened here today… What COULD of happened here today was possibly tragic. It still is, but that's nothing compared to the things I've seen." I usually don't talk about it, but being away from it all for 2 short days then being reintroduced just opened me up I guess. Only RWBY fully knew what I was talking about of course.

"Thousands dead. Their ripped and torn bodies strewn about and left behind." I looked back at all of the Beacon teams, a genuine look on my face. "You guys are gonna be the next generation of protectors. Not soldiers. Protectors. You're relied upon to answer to these situations when they come calling." A few whispers arose as I could make out what they were saying.

"Who is this guy?"

"Wasn't this the dude RWBY dragged out of the Forever Falls"

"Look at his armor. Even Atlas doesn't have that stuff?"

A bullhead came down. The pilot telling us he was our lift back to Beacon. I boarded with RWBY and a team I haven't seen before. I decided to do what I did when I met RWBY for the first time. I categorized them by color.

Yellow, Green, Pink, Red.

I stood next to edge of the aircrafts door and looked out towards the sea outside of Vale. Reminded me of an old city I operated in back when I first started out.

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts. It was 'Yellow'.

"Hey, um? I just wanna say thank you. Ozpin got your warning before the breach happened and scrambled teams and notified the Army… You saved a lot of lives today, b-but. Who exactly are you?" His voice was slightly quivering with each word. He sounded like his vocal cords had been shoved up into his nose with the weird pitch it followed.

I wondered why he looked so scared of me before realizing. I was covered in blood and mud.

I saw he had an outstretched hand and decided to take it.

"No problem kid. We would of been screwed had you guys not shown up, don't thank me. Names Reeves." His eyes relaxed as he processed the name.

"W-Well thank you, Reeves, but um? I meant more of WHO are you. You're obviously not a Hunter and I've never seen that type of gear and weapons before. I've also seen you around the school lately." The kid pinned me in a tight corner so I retorted with my own question.

"Okay, how about this. Introduce me to your team and I'll tell you as much as I can?"  
He took the deal and began pulling me to his teammates.

"Well the redheaded one is Pyrrha my partner, She's the best fighter on our team…" She smiled and gave a small, and innocent. 'Hello'

"The silent green one is Ren. He's basically a ninja and our go-to expert on aura." The now named Ren bowed respectfully. I shook his hand afterwards.

"Last, but not least, would be Nora. You can probably figure her out on your own. That just leaves me, I'm Jaune I lead them. All of us make up Team JNPR" The girl seemed way to energized after the breach. I made a mental note to keep at a safe distance of 5 feet.

"Well… Nice team you've got. Suppose I'll let you in on my gig at your school." I peered over my helmet and tossed to the kid who inspected in for a few seconds. He then handed it to Ruby who was gushing over it like a 12 year old kid and a porn mag.

"I'm a contractor. Your Headmaster hired me, along with the Vale council to help train the Vale Police Department, Vale Army, and any other combat units. I'm also being sent on missions that either the He, or the council believes I'm needed for. Usually just recon…" I looked back at Ruby who was now looking at me with a puzzled face.

Jaune and everyone else stared at me in either amazement or suspicion, I couldn't quite tell. Of course what I told them was a half truth that only RWBY understood. Nevertheless, I was still technically a contractor, so I wasn't lying.

"Wait? So if Ozpin sends you on missions of importance. What was your mission in Glenn, and with us. The suspicion was at an all time. Technically it wasn't classified and I was practically there for the same reasons RWBY was. No need in hiding.

"My assignment was 2 thing. Number 1 was to locate and report a possible White Fang stronghold in the area. Then sabotage any of their operations and clear out their Base of Operations." Blake twitched slightly again.

"And the other?" Yang nearly growled.

"My SECONDARY objective was to oversee, observe, and supervise you guys while you ALSO searched for the same hideout. Despite that not being your mission, hm?"

They stood like a deer in headlights. A few even turned red from embarrassment. I could imagine. A few times my team would be sent on clandestine Ops. Only to have it all declassified a week later. That awkwardness was always prominent.

The city faded from view as the sun fell below the towering structures. Blurring it from view.

The orange-red mixture of light cascaded onto the sea below. I don't like to get caught up sight seeing. Usually because the next time I see it… It's all burnt away and transformed to glass. This place, this world offered a peace I hadn't known before.

No alien threat looming over me like a dark shadow.

It wouldn't last though. Was was a part of me.

Well… Atleast fighting was. I've been fighting, killing, surviving since I was a kid.

My home planet was an Insurrectionist hive. From the day I could remember, all I knew were destroyed neighborhoods and broken families. My very own being one of them.

I crouched down next to the side of the Bullhead. Taking it all in. Letting the sun hit my face and the air run across my body. I was brought out of these thoughts with a nudge to the side. It was Ruby.

"Beautiful isn't it?" She let out in a shy tone. I looked up to her as she stood beside me. A smile sliding on my face.

"Yeah… I haven't been able to enjoy something like this in a long time." My words were as true as ever.

We smiled at each other and I looked once more into the sky.

All good things come to and end. The Bullhead landed at the airpads in Beacon. Team JNPR waved goodbye and walked through the courtyard into the dorms. I still had to report to Ozpin. I decided a few more minutes wouldn't kill him.

I stood alone for an untold amount of time just enjoying the peace. The calm. The silence. It still drove me mad, but I could at least accept it.

Team RWBY sat on the edge of the pads. Reminiscing about the days events.

I figured that maybe some company would be nice at this time. I walked over to where they sat and slowly lowered myself. As I sat completely down my body and face scrunched in pain from the still VERY fresh bullet wound. Blakes eyes shot to me and spoke a thousand words all at once.

I simply smiled back and waved to her. "It's no big deal Blake. I've been shot before." The words seemed strange but I was only being honest. They continued on with their conversation from where they left off.

"Not every story has a neat and tidy ending." Weiss spoke up first.

Blake looked back towards her and added on. "We may not have all the answers. But we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars. That's something we should be proud of." I nodded my head slightly. Well said.

Ruby perked up and spoke to the group on a final note. "Yeah… AND if somebody tries this again, we'll be there to stop them!" I chuckled slightly at her hopeful optimism. Kids will be kids.

Yang then let out a stretched out yawn and fell back onto the concrete. Shooting her hands up. "Yay teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, good job…" I rolled my eyes and began sitting up. They began talking about the wonders of sleep. Much to my displeasure.

I walked along with them through the courtyard before we reached the statue. I turned and started making my way towards Ozpin's office. Yang called out as I began walking away.

"Um? Reeves. You do realize the dorms are that way… Unless you plan to sleep in a classroom of course?" I chuckled at the sight and turned to face them. Pointing one thumb over my shoulder towards my destination.

"Yeah… I gotta report to Ozpin though. My day isn't even close to finished." As i said that I could see their jaws extend a few feet and make contact with the ground. Completely surprised by my long work days. I waved goodbye and started jogging towards his office.

Hopefully this would go smoothly…

Hopefully.

 **HOLY HELL THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER DONE.**

 **Usually I keep my chapters between 13-14 pages on my doc but this just kept coming.**

 **I decided that the first 3 were pretty low on any action so I decided to cram like 4 or 5 RWBY episodes into one chapter so you'd get lots of action to chew on and lot's of Reeves in the field.**

 **As always I love, love, love, reviews so feel free to leave one.**

 **I'll be updating my other story then returning to this one. Hopefully a new chapter will be out by the middle of October.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5 Interdimensional Tensions

Chapter 5

Interdimensional Tensions

The calming jazz music of the elevator persisted as I rose through each floor. The lights on the dial changing slowly and methodically. Each passing moment seemed designed to fill me with tension. I felt nothing, in fact I was quite relaxed at the moment. Not out of a sense of comfort or relief from the days event. Oh no, I was certain the enemy would return in due time. I was just relaxed because this was probably going to be the easiest debrief of my life.

The doors slid open and I walked into Ozpin's office. My helmet was still attached to my hip. Remnants of dirt and grime covered my face as I closed in on his desk. As my eyes began to fully comprehend the room I found Ozpin, Glynda, and 1 other figure dressed in full white. From the formal and precise cut of the clothing I could only assume he was also Military.

"Ah Reeves. Thank you for joining us, we have some news regarding the days events that we believe needs to be shared with you." I respectfully nodded my head before my brain focused on one word he had spoken.

"We?" I was aware that there were 2 other people in the room. Nevertheless, this was Ozpin's OP. As far as I was aware only me and him knew about it when I was assigned.

The man in white stepped in front of me. Obscuring Ozpin from vision.

"We, as in the Vale and Atlas council. Myself included." I raised an eyebrow before leaning to my left to see Ozpin around this guy. My face showed pure confusion as I gestured to him with my hand as if to say. 'Does he speak for you'. Ozpin's only response was to regretfully shake his head no.

"Yes and you would be?" The man looked offended by the statement slightly. I wanted to remain respectful so I popped on my helmet to give off a sadistic smile behind the Gungnir design.

"I am General Ironwood. Leader of the Atlas military, the most advanced fighting force in the world." His chest perked up as he stated his position with pride. I almost wanted to laugh as he called himself a leader. He didn't exactly seem the type to drop on the front lines and LEAD the charge. He was a bureaucratic commander more like.

Ozpin coughed in the background to regain everyone's attention.

"Back to the matter at hand… Thanks to your efforts in alerting me to the incoming threat, I was able to notify Vale authorities and military personnel. Had you not informed me we could of possibly had a sieg on our hands rather than a breach. Due to this, the Vale has declared that bothe Atlas and Vale will cooperate on the security of the Vytal Festival rather than one single Kingdom handle it." He smiled as he said that. Clearly satisfied with the trust he had put in me.

Ozpin went to say something else. But before he could, Ironwood spoke up.

"However… I still do not believe giving an… Alien, operation freedom and contracting status. Leave that to the professionals Ozpin!" My eyes widened slightly as I pointed to his back as he faced Ozpin. Mouthing out the words 'He knows!' The only reply was a curt nod of the head.

"Hey! Hard dick, I don't think you could be concerned about my operational freedom. The council of Vale has granted me this. However, as far as I'm aware of. You just dropped 6 chalks of foreign combatants in the Kingdom. How am I the threat here?" The General fumed slightly from his face. Clearly he did not appreciate my quick witted play on his name. What I said however was true, the entire time I was wondering if those ships had gotten clearance to drop troops or not. Not that I didn't appreciated the help.

Before he could recklessly apply Glynda and Ozpin both shot him a knowing glance. As if to say I had a point. "He is correct James. Despite us being extremely grateful for your assistance in the breach. The council has reminded me to warn you that anything like that happening again, will be considered an act of war." The tension in the room was at an all time high. 2 Kingdoms and another dimension were at odds. Quite the interesting diplomatic situation indeed.

"I apologize for my recklessness. I was simply acting in the best interests of Vale and her people." I internally scoffed at his words. Such a fucking politicians answer. That wasn't him acting in the interests of Vale. It was a Military display of power, most likely to sway the council for the Vytal Festival.

"Anyway, is that all you need me for Oz?" He nodded his head once again and took a swig from his mug. I began turning before the General stepped in front of me again. Except this time he offered his hand out. A gesture of peace I assumed.

I stalled for a seconds as I removed my mud and dirt covered combat gloves. As not to stain his very pristine looking white ones.

We shook hands and I made my way to the elevator once again. As much as Ozpin made it seemed that the debrief was over. I could tell there was something he wanted to tell me but the situation didn't allow for it. The doors slid shut and the elevator seemed to move faster to the bottom. Once they opened again I made my way to the locker room. I was going to be cleaning all fucking night long. Maybe some coffee could help?

 **UNSC** _ **Ascension**_

 **Armory**

 **9 hours before Operation: Dark Predator**

The clicks and clacks of rifles and metal in the armory filled the air. Inside of it was Onyx team. All 7 of them were preparing for the mission ahead. Packing extra magazines and ammo as the recon would take them far away from any possible resupply. They didn't need to say anything or ask any questions. They'd done this hundreds of times before and probably hundreds of time after.

Sierra and Martinez occupied a large table in the middle of the room. Packing and overlooking all of their sniper and spotter equipment. She was sighting in her rifle while he was making sure the spotting scope and rangefinder were calibrated.

Jones was in the corner of the room working on his portable laptop, making sure all the comms equipment was in top shape. Disassembling anything that wasn't up to par and upgrading anything that needed it. His head was spinning with numbers and calculations.

In the other corner was Kerry and Deruld. They simply checked their weapons and packed extra rations and supplies for the whole group. Any role that needed to be filled they were ready to do. They considered themselves wild cards.

However, on the very. VERY, far side of the room was Matthews. He was working with a bunch of explosives. From M168 demo charges to the C-7 foam explosive. He was packing it all. No expense was going unpaid for this one.

Then, amongst the chaos of all the organization and assembly. Stood a tall muscular man. Cooper, his short brown hair somewhat wet and pulled back. He stood in the middle of the room, talking and checking things off with the rest of his teammates.

"Alright. The Major wants us down on the flight deck in 1 hour for final mission prep and gear check. Apparently the mission timeline has been altered again. We've got 2 hours until the OP begins and the ground forces are sent it. We'll basically have a 30 minute window to get a head start before the ground pounders start shooting everything in sight." The Marines around him looked at him with hungry expressions. Ready to go out there and do their jobs.

"Oorah?" The echoey armory was then filled with all 6 other Force Recon Marines shouting oorah at the top of their lungs.

They'd find Reeves no matter what. Didn't mean he'd come home, but he'd be back with the UNSC.

 **Remnant**

 **Beacon Academy**

 **9 hours before Operation: Dark Predator**

I sat in the locker room for what felt like an eternity. Only about 2 hours in reality, but having to actually check and makes sure what I was using on my equipment was safe took a long time. If I was back on the Ascension I knew what oils were good for my rifle and what cleaning agents would work well with my armor. Everything here was basically and educated guess.

I cleaned out the inner barrel of my BR55 and reinserted it back into the railing and upper receiver. I then placed it into my locker and started finishing off with my helmet. That's when I heard the rythmic clicking of heels on the tiled floor. As subtle as they may of seemed, the room was dead quiet so the smallest sound was obvious to anyone with ears.

I looked over my shoulder to see Blake walking up next to me in an unconfident manner. Her eyes were fixated on the very visible bandage and wound that was on my shirtless form.

Oh yeah? Forgot to mention I was shirtless. She blushed slightly at my lean, yet quite muscular form. I held in the thought to laugh slightly. If this made her blush I could only imagine what UNSC showers would make her do. Before she could even speak about the wound that I swore she had apologized for maybe 6 times. I stopped her.

"Look, Blake we've been over this like 6 times. I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me I forgive you." She rolled her eyes slightly. Causing me some confusion.

"No… Reeves I didn't come here to apologize again. Though, I do still feel some guilt about the incident. I actually came here to ask you something…" My face contorted in further confusion. Wonder what was on her mind. I can usually read people easily, but she was good at hiding her thoughts. I could tell.

"Okay? Shoot." I straightened my back and stood tall in front of her. Somewhat physically preparing myself for the question. Anybody willing to find you at 10:15 PM had a good reason too.

She twiddled her thumb slightly as she spoke. "Well… When you were shot a bullet also hit me. At first I thought you were simply hit by another one but after I looked at you I saw that only one had hit you." My puzzled face seemed to question her as to why that was important.

"From when we ran into you I never saw you use your aura in anyway so i don't understand how it was depleted. Or, do you even have an aura?" My head reared back as her talk made much more sense now.

"Okay I see why you were so confused when I was shot. To answer your question, no. I don't have an aura. You have to remember that I'm sorta from a different dimension, back there we don't have that stuff. No safety net for us." I then turned around and finished up with my gear. Packing it all into a duffel bag for my room. I know I had a locker to put them in, I just felt they were more safe with me.

"Really? Even for someone of your… Skill set?" I looked back at her with some confusion once again. The hell did skill have to do with aura. She then made a funny motion with her hands, as if she was disappearing.

My eyes lit up with the revelation of what she meant. "OH! You mean the reactive camo!" She looked at me, almost to say 'um what?'

I pulled on the forearms braces of my gear and held it up against the white walls that surrounded the room. In the matter of a few seconds the brace turned white, mimicking even the texture of the quartz like wall.

"Photo-reactive camouflage is a special thing my unit gets to use. Typically, it would go to some classified unit. However, after my unit worked closer and closer with um... " I attempted to find the right words to use without giving away ONI or anything of that matter. Despite my friendliness to them I was still UNSC Special Operations. Which meant I had to keep their secrets.

"People in high places we sooned gained access to it." I smiled towards her as I zipped up the duffel bag and placed a compressive 'Marines' T-shirt I kept with me onto my form. As I turned around I pointed at her with a finger-gun gesture.

"Now, you asked me a question. So I get to ask you one." She faintly nodded as I began walking past her and she stayed with me. "Why did you care so much about the White Fang back there. I get it, some people don't like killing, but even your friends didn't react like you did?" I worded it and used a tone that didn't make it seem like I was judging her. Just asking a question.

"It's… Harder to explain." I raised an eyebrow. Nothing is too hard to explain. I mean, I told them I was an interdimensional alien for christ's sake. I then abruptly sat down on a nearby bench in the lonely locker room and crossed my arms.

"Well… You're gonna have to tell me. I did take a bullet for you after all?" I smirked devilishly towards her as she rolled her eyes. The guilt dissipating as I made the very, VERY cheap move on her. She sat down and let out a sigh. She opened her mouth but struggled to find words to use. I read her facial expressions as they shifted from sadness, shame, and anger. I had a good guess what she was about to say.

"You worked for them didn't you? Or at least had someone close to you connected with 'em?" I tilted my head. Showing that I wasn't judging her or even mad. From her stunned look, and even greater failure to speak. I figured my first choice was correct.

"I-I-I… I used to, the things I did. I just don't kn-" I could see in her eyes that she wasn't really with me in that moment. Her mind was being transported back to the past. Memories of what she'd done and those she'd hurt came rushing back like a linebacker. I understood her feelings. Before she could continue her stammering I cut her off. Putting a hand on her shoulder. In a way I was showing my "old" side too. My slightly wrinkled and scarred face seemed more broken than before.

"Ay, ay,ay. Calm down. You're okay… Look Blake it's all in the past." Her faces twisted in anger as she looked at me. "How can you say that! After what I've done!" My once soft and consoling face then switched to one of sass.

"You think you're the only person to live with regret and guilt. The only one to take lives?" I sighed slightly and looked to the floor. "I don't normally tell people this,, mainly because it would get me shot… Before I was apart of the UNSC I was a member of a terrorist organization known as the Insurrection. Now, I wasn't really there for the ideals or beliefs. I'd been on my own most my life and needed a place to sleep and eat. Nonetheless, I still killed, hurt, and terrorized people. In fact, I was so good at it, I earned the nickname 'Harbinger'." Her eyes seemed to soften and widen at the same time. She probably felt shocked that someone actually could relate to her situation, rather than provide the usual meaningless words of kindness.

"Eventually the Covenant rolled around and the UNSC tried to squash the Insurrection quicker. So I abandoned them and joined the very same people I was killing months before. Protecting the very same civilians I had swore to slaughter." I chuckled sadly as I sat straight and stretched my aching back.

"In fact, the only reason I think I even got past the background checks was because they were desperate for anyone willing to fight." I then stood up. Making my way towards the door but stopping short to look at Blake. Still sitting there wide eyed, trying to comprehend what I'd told her.

"Look… I get that those events don't just leave overnight. I also understand that they can eat you alive if you let them. It's sorta like a wounded animal. Sure you can deny it and keep it alive longer, only furthering its suffering. Eventually though, you have to put it down." I then left the room. I figured it was the best time to leave her to her thoughts and let her comprehend that on her own. Rather than force it down her throat.

I made my way back to my room and opened the door quietly. Once I was inside and closed the door, I threw my bag in the corner. Removing the helmet from within it and placing it on my nightstand. Laying myself down onto the mattress, kicking my shoes off, I soon let the darkness of the night consume my thoughts and rest my mind.

Not like I had much to expect tomorrow. It would probably just be a boring day anyway.

A boring day.

 **UNSC** _ **Ascension**_

 **Flight Deck**

 **Operation: Dark Predator**

The faint hum and roar of the engine outside the Pelican could be heard inside the fuselage. All 7 Onyx team members sat in a shared silence as the aircraft neared the event horizon of the portal. Not a word was spoken; other than a small recap and the final confirmation to the Major. This was it.

"Jones, how's the relay looking. I don't want to have my ears clipped once we're down." Cooper pointed towards Jones. His face completely devoid of emotion under his Gungnir helmet. Other than body size, they all looked the same. Same grey BDU and the same helmet. The only difference being the slight difference in armor and the weapons they held.

Jones perked up and pointed towards the large, rectangular box-type object in the middle of the Pelican. "It's ready to go. Calculations show that we should have an effective range of over 1,000 miles. All secured channels." Cooper nodded in somewhat relief from the statement. The plan still had a lot of 'maybe' in it.

"Strap up! We're crossing the event horizon in 15 seconds!" The pilot called from the cockpit as they all grabbed onto the metal bars and straps keeping them in place. The time ticked down like and hour between seconds. Each moment drawing greater tension than the last. Some of them closed their eyes as a bright white light flooded into the Pelican from the cockpits window.

Just as fast as it came though, it left. The bright light was then replaced with the consuming darkness of a blank sky. One they were currently falling through.

"Shit, Max! Low altitude, LOW FUCKING ALTITU-" The pilot was cut off by his co-pilot. Who was furiously pulling levers and tapping controls.

"YEAH YEAH! I'M ON IT!" The sudden G's of free falling in a metal bird hit them suddenly and without mercy. The Pelican then violently shot up as the descent slowed to a grinding halt. The HUD's of all the men aboard reading that they had only been at 300 feet when they VTOL'd.

The pilot then calmed himself and began reading out their flight status as they lowered to the ground below.

"Torgue feels okay… Hydraulics are holding." All 7 of them tuned out as they released themselves from their straps. Some even standing up as they reached 50 feet. The bump of wheels hitting the dirt and engine slowly dying off was heard to everyone. The tailgate slid opened with a pneumatic hiss. All while 7 Marines jumped down and started creating a perimeter as one PFC in particular was using a datapad to scan something.

"C'mon Jones, what ya' got. We got less than 28 minutes until the ground pounders arrive." Sergeant Matthews called out from his crouched position. All of them, minus Jones, were in a semi-circle C formation around the back of the Pelican.

"Yeah… Hold on just a sec… Okay, we're good. Air is breathable." They all nodded together as they rallied together and began setting up the communications relay. All while discussing the plan with themselves and the pilots.

"Okay, the moment this shit is up and running we're displacing to the nearest signal or point of interest we can find. You fly-boys will be good on your own for 25 minutes right?" The pilot pulled out an SMG and racked a round into the chamber. Nodding as he did so. "Okay, no need to get feisty…" was of course Martinez's smart ass remark.

Kerry broke into the conversation.

"How we looking Jones?" He crouched down to see him tapping things into a touchscreen attached to the relay and pulling on something.

"Almost!... Almost!... Got it!" Jones struggled with each word said until whatever he was pulling got into place. Causing him to fall on his back. Deruld made a stupid quip about how he said it was up and running before hand.

Cooper left his brooding as he looked out onto the dark trees around the clearing they'd made. He tapped the side of his helmet and began speaking.

"This is Onyx 2 Actual reporting in from Frontier. We've secured and LZ and are beginning our search." Everyone held a collective breath of anxiety as they waited for a response. "We read you Lima Charlie Onyx. Ground Forces will be arriving in 23 minutes. You are clear to move out." Not wanting to waste any time, Cooper replied with a simply copy and made a knife hand gesture towards the tree. Meaning it was time to move out.

As Onyx trekked through the darkened woods and seemingly abandoned forests, only one though was shared. 'Something was stalking them'.

They didn't know what it was. They could faintly see it though. The NVG's they had provided enough visibility to see at least 50 yards into the huddled trees. On the way they'd caught the glimpse of a seemingly humanoid hiding and moving with them. Using the internal comms that was built into their helmets they decided to hold fire.

Soon the numbers increased though. 1 became 3, 3 became 6. So and so forth. Until at least 20 surrounded them. Cooper held up 2 hand signals. A hold sign and a perimeter gesture. They formed a tight circle around each other. Waiting to get a full glimpse at the creatures around. The moment provided itself.

A tall werewolf-esque thing peeked out from behind a tree. Cloaked in shadows, completely unaware it was down the barrel of a gun. Cooper told them to wait until all of them came into view. They inched closer, hoping to feast on an easy meal, but looks can be deceiving

Once Cooper was sure all of them were in the open he gave the all clear order. Suppressed rifles began opening up on. Each beast as they had nowhere to run or hide. They felt no fear at the new threat in front of them. They'd seen crazy shit before. The firefight lasted seconds as soon each body dropped to the ground dead. Onyx reloaded their weapons and scanned the surroundings. That's when Martinez broke formation, walking up to a carcass. Hoping to steal the teeth of a new animal this time. He was, of course surprised when the body began disappearing. Evaporating into nothingness.

Onyx had to keep their heads in the game however. The team shook it off and stood up, ready to move once again. That's when a signal came through on their comms. A faint one, one that was recognizable, one that was Reeves.

It wasn't a radio message, in fact nothing at all was sent. All it was, all that it could of been, was the connection of Reeves comms unit to the relay. That was more than enough though. Jones immediately pulled out a small laptop and began typing away. His eyes stuck to the screen as he just kept typing and typing. Eventually he looked up at his team.

"Got him. 4 clicks North East of here. The signal was sent through maybe 100 other signals. So where ever he is. It's populated." Jones tucked the laptop back into his pack and looked to Cooper. They weren't expecting it to be this quick. Not that they were complaining. It just meant less time to adjust to their new setting.

 **Remnant**

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Dorm #628**

My eyes shot open for no apparent reason. That was until a loud vibrating noise could be heard on my nightstand. I instinctively flipped onto my stomach and slammed one hand down onto the noisy object. Only to recoil my hand back in pain as I realized, in the darkness, I had slapped the top of my helmet. Hissing in pain and shaking my hand I used the other to take hold of the equipment in question.

My eyes squinted as I turned on the lamp. The sudden light causing them much pain; I then flipped ant tossed the head piece in my hand. Inspecting it for any noise. Other than tactical readouts, the thing had been completely silent in all my time here. In a last ditch attempt to locate the disturbance I popped it on. The HUD shot to life and began displaying as much information as possible. I actually began losing interest until I saw it.

 _Friendly units detected nearby._

 _Estimated distance…_

 _4 Kilometers South-East._

 _ETA: 30 minutes._

The intel remained displayed on my helmet as I sat on my bed. My chest began rising and falling rapidly.

'No way'

'How?'

'Who?'

My mind raced with questions I couldn't answer. I didn't dwell on them long however. Launching myself out of bed and pulling on every last ounce of gear I had; I made my way down the many halls of Beacon. Not wanting to cause a commotion I opted to take a longer way to the armory. If these guys were UNSC, seeing my gear and weapons would immediately put 'em on safe. By the time I reached the locker room, 6 minutes had passed. When I said it was a long way, I meant a long way.

Slinging my rifle and holstering the sidearm on my hip I then left the locker room. Keeping silent and true I moved to the roofs of Beacon. Usually, I would trust my data display. Given the circumstances though, I had to be ready for anything. I reached the roof and sat completely still in a spotter stance for about 4 more minutes until the sound of scraping metal behind me.

I shot around, almost leveling my rifle with how on edge I was.

It was Ozpin. Full suit and coffee in hand. The man had an emotional relationship to that mug.

"Well… I suppose it is a good night for stargazing?" he was clearly trying to use comedy to calm me down. I rose to a standing position, my weapon slung to my hip. One hand still resting on my SOCOM.

"No offense Ozpin but you've got… Less than 20 minutes until some shit is about to go down." I looked at him in eyes. Well… I guess the best I could considering my helmet.

"Before you start making questions just listen alright? I know I said i was the only one of the UNSC to be here. I guess I was wrong because my helmet just picked up a team of them closing in on Beacon… On me!" He nodded his head in a understanding gesture. Clearly not wanting to cause anything he looked out towards the forest.

"I see… Well then. As much as I would like to meet them; It may be best that you meet with that team in secret. Tell them about the world they've stumbled upon. Then hopefully tomorrow I can meet them." If my helmet wasn't on my head at that moment I would of lost my jaw. I wasn't shocked or in disagreement. In reality, I was completely with everything he said.

No, I was surprised because he had just, line by line, planned out everything I was about to tell him. I shook of the confusion before nodding towards him. He got the message and left through the door that had led me up here.

I waited out the final minutes of the arrival. Then I saw them.

A 7 man team, that my HUD couldn't ID, come out of the treeline. They were UNSC alright. Gear and everything. To the normal eye they were practically invisible, not to me though. These guys moved perfectly though. Covering one another and staying in the shadows.

They couldn't?

Could they?

I stayed patient and used an IR beacon in my kit. Placing it down on the ledge before me, I activated it. The beacons flashed brightly on NVG's, but nothing could be seen with the naked eye.

Here we go…

 **Remnant**

 **Beacon Academy**

 **1 hour after Operation launch**

They stacked against trees in the darkness of night. Holding position and talking on internal comms.

"This is the place. It's fucking huge, look at those birds. Has to be a military installation of some kind." Was Kerry's first opinion. He always was the one to make assumptions first. After all he'd been through, you'd think he'd be less gun-ho.

"A weird one at that… Looks like a school to me. Like a college I went to back before I joined?" Martines quickly threw off the observation. He wasn't wrong though. Whatever this place was, they couldn't tell.

"Cut the chatte- 2 O'Clock high. 4 story building." Cooper called out to his teammates. Their heads shot like they'd seen a squirrel. Low and behold there it was. An IR beacon sitting there. A single UNSC combatant stood alone on top of it. Had to be him.

"Wait? He saw us!" Was Sierras, seemingly defeated comment afterwards. She prided herself on staying stealthy.

"Of course he saw us… It's Reeves for christs sake." Matthews added to her last reply. They broke from the treeline and began working their way to the side of the building. On the way they caught a glimpse of people moving on the floors above through the windows. They were blind to them due to the light of their rooms however.

"Deruld and Jones. Set the line." The 2 people in question slung their respective weapons behind them and pulled out a thick rope. On the end of it was a small magnetic pad that would stick to almost any surface.

They tossed it over the edge of the building and climbed to the top. Each step closer made them feel a sense of anxiety and excitement.

Moment of truth.

They all slid over the edge of the roof and stood tall in front of him.

His gear hadn't changed. Soon the IFF tag ID'd the man in front of them.

It was Reeves.

 **Reeves**

 **1 hour after Operation launch**

"Well I'll be damned… Onyx, if it isn't good to see you." I walked up to all of them. Hugging tightly each one respectively.

"It's good to see you too sir. However, we've got something to discuss" The mood of the reunion was mercilessly killed right in front of me with that statement. I only sighed as a reply then placed my hands on my hips.

"Normally we would bring you back to the FOB. That was the plan after all. Nonetheless, in HIGHCOM's infinite wisdom they ordered us to simply RV with you and continue recon. So sorry… Home is a little farther away." Cooper explained the situation with genuine regret and sympathy in his voice. Something that wasn't often seen in any of my Marines.

I sat down on the roofs ledge and gestured for them to do the same **.**

"Listen up, because I am about to give you the regional intel of a LIFETIME." They all perked closer as I began my story. I hated explaining things. However, this situation could pass.

So I told them everything.

Remnant.

The Kingdoms.

The Grimm.

The White Fang.

What I had been doing since I got here.

All of it.

In return they explained the portal, the Battle Group, and how ONI had an interest in this place. After our little chit chat however, I cut to the chase.

"Basically, the Headmaster of this place, Ozpin. Wants to meet with you guys in the morning. It'll be behind closed doors of course. I'm sure you've already encountered the Grimm on your way here though." They all; nodded their heads. That was good thing, they were adapting. "At least we can expect a constant connection to the UNSC. Though, sooner or later the covies will show up. They always do" Was Matthews reply to me.

"Look man… this world may seem like it's primitive compared to ours but I guarantee that in an one on one fight. The kids in this school would kill your asses." I looked around my sides to check for anyone listening. I knew no one was there, it was more of a sign that this next part was a secret.

"However, they aren't very smart, tactical-wise. Put some distance between you and them and find some cover or concealment. Pick them off one by one. They don't last very long in proper gunfights." Onyx all nodded, storing the information somewhere that would help them later.

After that, we just spent the night talking and enjoying the fact that Onyx team was combat effective again. We needed to be, this Operation would test all of us.

 **8 hours later**

Our watch stayed quiet for the last of hour I kept them out there. The chilly fall breeze didn't bother any of us. After all, we'd been through so much worse. We actually had a close call around the 3rd hour. Teenage makeout session on the roof… God I hate youth sometimes.

I had them hide over the edge of the roof or behind stacks of pipes and skylights. It was so dark that one of my guys got so ballsy he stood out in the open. They didn't even notice him. I woke Martinez up from his sitting position, his feet kicked up on a vent.

"Alright everyone, it's saturday so most of the kids will be sleeping in. Stay frosty though they can't know you guys even exist. Last thing we need is for 8 armed figures to enter a school inhabited by children carrying massive weapons" I decided that my explanation was good enough. We moved in a diamond formation towards the stairwell leading into the building below. We'd have to pass by the locker room and through the auditorium to get to his office.

Going on the outside wasn't an option, too many cameras and last thing I need is the campus security to contact the authorities. By using the inside I could get Jones to scramble the surveillance temporarily.

"Jones; scramble their surveillance network. We'll only need 4 minutes of time." He nodded from the back of the group and started working on his TACPAD attached to his wrist. He looked to me and gave us a thumbs up. Show time.

We walked down the stairwell before reaching the bottom floor. Stacking up against it and holding position I listened for any footsteps. Even the slightest sound out of the normal wasn't worth the risk. I waited 5 seconds before opening the door.

We moved silently through the halls of Beacons passed the locker room. Reaching a set of 2 doors we had one last room to pass through, the auditorium. It wasn't an easy task at all. Too many open spaces and little concealment. However, since it was only ever used for speeches that meant the lights had to be turned on manually. No lights and plenty of shadows to pass through. I just feared it wasn't dark enough.

"Switch on." That was all that needed to be said between Onyx. Our photo-reactive camo set in immediately, matching the grey walls. It would keep us hidden by a bigger margin at least. I opened the door and started hugging the left hand wall.

We moved in a single file line across the wall, one man watching the center of the room, another covering the rear, and I was left on point.

We'd reached the halfway point when the creaking sounds of a door cluttered the room. I looked to the otherside to see Glynda walking through the center of the auditorium. Clipboard in hand and the ever enduring scowl of disapproval on her face.

I made a small hand gesture for Onyx to crouch down and practically make love with the wall. We might just be hidden enough to get around her. I wouldn't count on it though.

She stopped mid-way and looked around all confused. As if someone had tapped her on the shoulder and she was trying to find who.

"Easy…" I whispered over internal comms. In reality, there was no need to whisper. With the internal comms link she wouldn't hear a word. The action just came naturally though. After a second of spinning around, she turned back towards her destination. Straightened her glasses, and walked of the auditorium. The clicking of her heels mocking a metronome.

"Alright… Go." We stood up and moved forward to the set of doors ahead of us. Exiting through we entered the lift room. A series of elevators stretched out before us. Each one providing a different location to go to. I pointed to the middle one and called for it down. We created a C shaped perimeter around the door as it passed level for level.

The rhythmic tapping of heels returned quickly. She was back, we maybe had 30 seconds before she would find us. Where ever she is.

"Boss… If she finds us wadda' we do?" I bit my bottom lip under my helmet trying to think it out. We weren't going to shoot her, but she might not give us time to talk it out before she attacks. Though, she'd recognize me easily. After all, I was the pain in her ass.

"Just hold formation and I'll do the talking." We waited a few more seconds. Praying that the elevator would arrive.

It finally did.

We crammed inside quickly and closed the door. All 8 of us fit neatly inside, it was tight, but neat. The elevator jolted up towards Ozpin's office abruptly and caused us to lose balance momentarily. It was moving faster! We rose through levels in seconds. All before the elevator stopped. We jolted forward, like kids on a roller coaster.

The door slid open and infront of us was Ozpin. Sitting at his desk, papers in hand.

"I must say I am impressed Reeves. You're team lives up to your praise… though, I must say. Was it really necessary to scramble our surveillance systems?" I smirked towards the old man. Despite the comment, he was clearly having a laugh.

"Because if you hadn't. There would of been no need for Glynda to look for you?" I reered my head back and pointed at him. Cheeky fucker.

"Well, it's sorta our thing. Disrupt and infiltrate… So, ya' know?" I shrugged my shoulder before bringing Onyx forward to him. They stood at the position of attention as I began my introductory.

I patted Coopers shoulder. "This is First Sergeant Cooper. My CQC specialist. Served with ONI Security teams before being transferred to here. My second-in-command. No other person I'd rather have on my right hand." I then walked over to Sierra and gestured to her with my hand. Her back straightened and she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Corporal Sierra is the team's resident Marksmen. She works with Lance Corporal Martinez over there." I pointed to Martinez who only grew a shit eating grin. He had something smart to say clearly. "Both are former Scout Snipers. These 2 can hit a target 1000 yards away with their eyes closed." I then walked over to Jones. Who was briefly glancing at his TACPAD.

"Right here is PFC Jones. He was actually the one to get into your system. Doesn't matter who's tech it is. He'll crack it." Afterwards I then 'lightly' punched Matthews in the chest. "This guy right here is Sergeant Matthews, if it exists he'll want to blow it up. He's got more explosives packed on him than your Army platoons." I pointed at Ozpin who was quietly observing my team.

"Finally, we've got Private Deruld and Lance Corporal Kerry. Both are rifleman, though Kerry acts as our medic." Not much to be said about them. They did their job and were reliable assets to the team.

Ozpin opened his mouth to speak; only to be interrupted by the elevator opening.

"Ozpin I'm telling you there are no suspicious individuals in the schoo-" Glynda burst into the room in a furious rage. She was cut short upon seeing an 8 man team of special operatives in front of her. She gestured towards us with a pointed finger as if to say 'how did they get in!?' in return she only received a reassuring head nod from Ozpin. She sighed and walked past us in a tight walk and placed herself beside him.

"Anyway…" I took the word and drew it out. "Back to business, the UNSC has located and stabilized a portal bridging your world and mine. As for when I may be called back, I'm not sure." I wouldn't regret leaving this place. Nor would I fight it in anyway. My war was back with the UNSC, and we were losing.

I gestured to Cooper to take over as he had more details regarding Operation: Dark Predator.

"As of now, a UNSC forward operating base has been established 4 clicks of here. Ground and air assets have been deployed already along with a Marine Expeditionary Unit." Ozpin's face morphed into that of a scowl. I already saw his thinking. This was an invasion.

"I see…" Was his only response.

That's when another voice bursted into the room. The low, gravelly tone reminded me of Marine Drill Instructors. He bursted out of the elevator at full speed. Stumbling as he came through.

He appeared in a white and grey dress shirt with contrasting black dress pants. A red cloak was held together by a string on his back. Holes and rips were littered all over it. On his lower back was an extremely large sword that seemed to be folded in on itself.

He drew his sword and dropped into a defensive stance. In return, Onyx levelled their rifles, myself included, and simeotaneously clicked off our safety. For a moment I wasn't sure if we could take him. He looked like a Huntsman. Then it occured to me that he had about 10 feet to go and a shotgun as well as a sniper were pointed at him. Bad odds even for this worlds wacky warriors.

"Stand down, we will shoot!" I called out. I didn't give a fuck who this guy was. He was a threat. An unknown threat. All thoughts of the discussion before hand, flew out of my mind. He was panting, clearly fatigue was taking over him. This wasn't a fight he could win.

"Ozpin it's them!" He shouted towards the man in question. Ozpin shot out of his chair and slammed his hands on his desk. The hostile lost focus and looked towards Ozpin, Onyx didn't' even flinch.

"Qrow, calm yourself, what are you talking about! What do you mean it's them!?" Ozpin was clearly just as confused as we were. The now named Qrow relaxed slightly. I could already tell he was about to rant.

"This morning while I was scouting out in the wilds I came across 3 airships I've never seen before land in the middle of the Forever Fall. Another airship was already on the ground at the time too. Before I knew it, another larger airship had placed down a giant platform." He stopped to catch his breath as he then pointed his sword back at us. "Within minutes a massive base was set up. More airships came down and unloaded weapons, cargo, and hundreds of unknown soldiers." I already knew what he was talking about. I lowered my rifle but ordered Onyx to keep theirs up.

I walked into no man's land to hopefully settle this peacefully.

"Calm down… It's just an Expeditionary Force, its standard protocol… Now put the knife down and let's talk this out. We're on the same side here." I was in a defensive stance with both arms stretched out to either side. If my hand curled into a fist, Onyx would fire. If it went up, they would stand down.

"Bullshit, this is an invasion! Who are you people!?" He was clearly on edge. He obviously wouldn't listen to me. Maybe Ozpin would calm him down?

"Look man, that would take about of week to explain shit you wouldn't understand. Don't take my word for it, listen to Oz." I pointed towards Ozpin. Afterwards, his posture relaxed as he took in a deep breath. More fucking explanation. I mentally tuned out as this would be like the 4th time I heard the story I'd given to Oz.

UNSC.

Covenant.

Great War.

Blah blah blah.

Qrow seemed to relax more after Ozpin had explained it. He stowed away his weapon and as a sign of peace my hand went up. Onyx clicked on their safeties and lowered their rifles. He still didn't like me. Maybe this would change it.

"Look, I know you don't like or trust me. But right now we've got bigger fish to fry. That portal is still open. That means the UNSC is guarding is with an entire Naval Battle Group. Right now they are the only thing stopping the Covenant from coming in here and destroying your world. Right now the UNSC is only trying to figure out what makes this place so important. Okay?" He scoffed and leaned against a pillar on the side of the room. His arms crossed like a rebellious child that didn't want to go to their room.

"Gentleman if you would leave your differences behind. We may actually gain something from this event." Ozpin then took another swig of coffee from his mug before relaxing himself into his chair. "You've already proven from the slight samples of your world, that you are easily more technologically advanced than our own world. I'm also sure that even Ironwood would have to agree on that. Now if we could onl-" A loud static creaching ripped through my ear before he could continue.

I flinched and brought my hand up to the side of my helmet. I looked around and saw Onyx was following suit. Whatever this was, it was a broadcasted on all frequencies.

"This is Major Grant of the UNSC Ascension to all UNSC assets down on the Frontier. Be advised 3 Covenant Corvettes have slipped through our defenses and breached the portal. Prepare for early invasion parties." The broadcast cut short. The sounds of men running and people yelling orders in the background was faintly heard. The transmission's origin was from FOB Baseplate. The Huntsman in the room looked at us curiously.

Onyx shared a knowing look. We needed to report our location to Baseplate now. Once that was done we needed all military officials to be notified. If we could contact them soon enough, assuming they believed us.

"Reeves? Are you okay-" My head snapped towards him as I walked up to the desk and layed out a 3D map. The device shot to life and created a grid of the area. Including anything in high orbit. Using the now established radio waves, I was able to use my clearance to update all NAVMAPS of the Vale area.

"Ozpin… Look, all of you are in danger. We just got a report from our command. The Covenant slipped through the Naval defenses around the portal. It's only 3 Corvettes but that may be all they need to wreak havoc on Remnant. I've already brought Onyx up to 'Standby status'." I paused, letting the map updated from all the other UNSC teams sending in geographical and strategic intel. Terrain, topography, 2 Paris Class Frigates, and 1 Halcyon, popped in. Good, at least we had some Naval capabilities.

"My team will soon receive orders regarding enemy deployments. I REALLY recommend you alert all law enforcement and military installations to be ready for an invasion. You may have minutes until the first Covie strike on a populace begins. An hour at the best." Qrow then stepped up, clearly confused at my rushed planning. We had told him everything he needed to know about the threat ahead. However, he was still, VERY in the dark.

"Wait, wait, wait, how the hell would they be able to deploy that fast. It takes our ships days to just get to places like Mistral or Vacuo?" I looked at him. The helmet hiding my extremely sarcastic face. What part of 'technologically advanced' doesn't this asshat understand.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that and move on… Look-" This time I was cut off by a holographic screen appearing behind Ozpin. Ironwood, along with a few more faces I didn't recognize appeared. Ozpin turned around and began reciprocating everything I had said to them. Of course just casually mentioning the fact I was from a different dimension. That's when Ironwoods pride got the best of him.

"Ozpin, calm down. I'll have the Atlas fleet stationed at Vale intercept the Corvette they send here and decimate it. I can assure you that Atlas has the situation in hand." That fucking bravado was drilling into my skull. I hated officers like him. So sure of things that they believe brute force alone will work. I wanted to speak up and warn him that he stood no chance, frankly though. All the ships we had were spreading out to regions like Vacuo and Mistral to deploy more men and FOBs incase Vale is lost. The only ship coming to defend here was a Paris class. Odds were stacked against us already, so if his ships could just run their ammo dry, then so be it.

"Ironwood, I've fought the Covenant first hand. Do not underestimate them." I had to say something of course. As much as I hated the man, I had to think of the others under his command. They'd be sent to the grinder. He simply smirked and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure we can handle it." That's when he cut the feed as well did the others. They seemed to believe that Atlas' protection would be enough. Nothing we could do now.

I peered out the window to see the Atlas airships shifting positions to place themselves right over the city. They were not only going to put a vast majority of their fleet into one location. They also were putting the city in danger once the first ship crashed into it. Fucking hell.

A mission update appeared on my HUD. Our orders were to alert local forces, done. As well as set up an evacuation area for civilians while coordinating with said local forces, not so done.

"Ozpin, my team's been tasked with evacuating the city alongside local forces. Our best bet is to set the Evac site at Beacon, away from the fighting. Bring the school up to alert status." I looked towards him, awaiting confirmation. He simply looked at the screen in front of him on his desk. Reading words I couldn't see and taking orders from people i didn't know.

"I'm afraid the Council has already taken measures of their own. They've informed me that the evacuation site is located at the Vale Army base downtown. They're reasoning was that the fleet would be able to provide protection as airships flew out." My hands curled into fists as I had to turn away in anger. I didn't express emotion like this often, but when I did it was serious. When would these fucking bureaucrats learn anything.

I motioned for my team towards the elevator as I turned around towards Ozpin. This wasn't his fault at all, I was just pissed off. My tone took that of a fiery rage.

"Well, you tell the Council to shift the evacuation site to Beacon NOW! Because if they don't… There will be no UNSC support whatsoever." I then walked into the elevator with my team and racked the charging handle on my rifle. Vale would fall today, our own cities were lucky to last a week if they had a fleet protecting them. This one would fall in hours.

Whatever HIGHCOM saw in Remnant, I may never know. All I can say for sure, is that this world is doomed.

The elevator reached the bottom floor and opened up with a hiss. Onyx team jogged out of the building and into the courtyard. We made it to the airdocks where we would set up a beacon. Signalling for the Major to send in the troops to secure the area. As Jones took a knee and began setting it up, students from the school began crowding around us.

Me being in my gear alone drew attention, 7 more people was cause for a show. Amongst the horde of children I found 2 familiar faces. Team RWBY and JNPR were pushing to the front. The crowd only grew larger as my team set up a perimeter around Jones. Was it subtle to come out here in broad daylight, no. Was it our only option, yes!

"Reeves what is going on!? W-Wait… Which one of you is Reeves?" I nodded towards my team to hold the perimeter as I would start thinning the crowd. "Right here Ruby…" I through a hand up which caused her to calm down a bit at the ruckus. I then stepped forward and began speaking to the crowd.

"Listen up! You may not know me and I may not know you. However, right now you're all in extreme danger. You need to arm yourselves and prepare for a fight. Now move!" I shouted the last line towards the group. They all seemed to be at the right mix of confused and scared too listen to me. They cleared out as they ran towards the locker room. Team RWBY still remained though.

"Reeves what is going on!?" Ruby was very persistent in getting to the bottom of this. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could… The ground started shaking. A loud rumbling rolled in through the sky. I looked around so see what it was, but the clouds were thick and stretched out along the sky. I didn't need to see it though.

They were here.

A Covenant Corvette ripped through the clouds above. The shaking was becoming more intense as some of us began losing balance. The loud screeching up the air passing by the massive ship filled the air for miles around. The Corvette sped downwards before slowing it's descent over the city. As the ship stabilized the whole of Vale held its breath at the colossal warship in front of it. I'd seen bigger of course.

The Corvette hung itself over the Atlas fleet, making their airships look like toys compared to itself. I could see faintly the streams of Banshees, Phantoms, and Spirits all flood out towards the city below. Downtown to be specific. It would be a massacre. The Atlas fleet began firing its weapons at the Corvette, each volley seemingly bouncing off the hull of the far superior warship. The Corvette even seemed to hold it's fire, as I was sure the Captain of it was laughing at the puny display.

Of course though, the enemy fired back. The Corvette then seemed to fire absolutely everything it had on the fleet below. Dead set on displaying its power as a fear tactic. We all helplessly watched as the Atlas fleet was torn apart and sent down to the city below in fiery wrecks. Lucky for us, there we so many Atlas ships that it would take maybe 10 minutes for them to all be destroyed. A siren at the school began balring as an army of students all rushed out of the school towards the air docks. Bullheads began spinning up as they prepared to defend the city that was already lost.

"Ruby your team can't go out there. We've got a UNSC Frigate enroute, they'll be here in less than 2 minutes. If they go down there without any support they'll all die! Do you hear me you'll all die!" I grabbed her arm as she was about to make a run for the Bullhead. Her sister seemed ready to blast my head off, but frankly she'd be the least scariest thing I'll encounter today. Ruby simply looked at me in disgust as she ripped her arm out of my hand. "Someone has to do something!" She then raced off towards the airdocks with her team. God I hate how these kids think everything is so black and white.

"Orders sir?" Sierra was tapped me on the shoulder. I could hear the concern in her voice. Jones had the beacons set up and we were just waiting on reinforcements. I looked up into the sky and told myself for what felt like the 1000th time in my service to the UNSC. 'We're about to die'.

"Fuck it. Onyx on me, let's move!" I then got a collective oorah from my team as we sprinted towards the nearest Bullhead. As we boarded the students all looked at us with wonder. Couldn't tell you why, maybe they believed we could make a difference. Kids think that shit 'ya know.

I brought my finger up to the side of my helmet. I didn't care if these kids heard me or not. So I spoke out loud. "Major Grant this is Onyx tema reporting in. We're deploying into the city to assess the situation. They'll need UNSC support ASAP. We've maybe got 3 hours at best until the city is overrun. Out!" I cut the transmission and looked up. All the kids were looking at me like I was a ghost or something. "What?" They just looked down to the floor nervously.

The pilot called out as we reached the city.

"It's hot as hell down there, but I'll try and land 'ya as close as possible!" That's when i realized it was the same pilot that had dropped me off at Mountain Glenn. I sent the man a thumbs up from my position and he smiled in return. I could hear a familiar sound as we flew down. Just subtly over the engine. The sound of wind rushing by in that same screech I'd heard before. I grabbed the side doors of the Bullhead and slid them open, and a few students jumped at the gesture. I popped my head out and looked behind us. Only to see a Banshee in pursuit and green orb of death flying towards us. My head shot back and called out to the pilot.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The students all grabbed their heads and the pilot did his best to veer to the side. The Banshee bomb hit the right side engine of the Bullhead and blasted the aircraft sideways. I lost my footing and fell out of the doorway, my hand only catching a hook in the floor of the Bullhead that we use for rappelling. The spinning continued as I heard the multiple beeps and sirens from the cockpit. Pulling myself in and doing everything that I'd been taught to do in this situation. I grabbed my head and pulled it into my chest.

That's when everything went dark and everything was in pain.

 **Okay that's Chapter 5 done. The invasion of Remnant has begun. The UNSC as Remnant forces will be pinned up against the wall as they fight both Grimm and Covenant alike, with a bit of White Fang thrown in.**

 **I know this chapter wasn't filled with action, i figured a breathing chapter was in order as the last one was just all field work and shooty shooty bang bang.**

 **Anyway, the next chapter will be right after I post the next one for Halo: Force Recon and I promise there will be lots of action and less of a cliffhanger.**

 **Speaking of my other story, please let me know if you enjoy this new update schedule.**

 **As alway, please leave a review as it's one of the things I still find joy in.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter**


	6. Q&A

**Q &A**

 **Okay, okay, okay. I get it, this is not a new chapter and I must of gotten you really hyped up when you figured out I updated so soon. I know, I'm an asshole, I hate it when authors do this too. However, I just felt like it needed to be done.**

 **Before any of you start freaking the fuck out or completely dismiss this chapter, I do recommend you see it as it's one of the few times I can actually interact with you guys. The fans. You guys are the reason I do this.**

 **Anyway, this will be a Q &A type session as stated before. I'll hold them every so often as the reviews piled up. So ask me a question via a PM or a review (I'll probably see the review first) and I'll keep it in my notes for a Q&A.**

 **This is also I time I take to thank you guys and drop hints to where the stories going. Hell, maybe I'll even drop some dialogue in and let you guys figure it out. Let me know what you think. Anyway, here we go.**

Guest: **I agree with the guy below me, this is actually a pretty good story. I don't like other authors who overpower their Hunters or anything else on Remnant (I read a story where the author overpowered the Grimm to the point where the Spartan described the Grimm's bone plating as mjolnir armor-like, that just pissed me off) while the Hunters in the actual show are not depicted at doing 10% of the things the fans have them doing their stories.**

Guest #2: **This is the type of story I like, no nerfing bullshit to make Remnant and its people seem better than what they truly are. You show the clear difference between superior tech, tactics and skill against flashy brats and their bullshits**

Answer: **To both readers. Thank you so much for reading this story and I'm so glad my story telling resonates with you. Frankly, I got really fucking tired of reading story after story where the RWBY characters were overpowered to the point of nausea. I originally didn't want to write this story because I believed it couldn't be done without seeming like a RWBY hate train.**

 **That was of course, until I read Down The Rabbit Hole by grim. If you haven't seen that story yet, highly recommend you read it. The writing is pretty good and the you'll see I take MANY inspirations from him. I've done my best to make sure that each respective faction is done justice by searching the lore and watching each episode practically frame by frame to make sure everything is right. With a few exceptions of course because PLOT. So trust me I'll definitely show you the Hunters getting their asses kicked once or twice.**

Guest #3: **I wouldn't be surprised if a cocky arrogant Hunter ran up to a Covenant member and thought " I have aura and he doesn't", then SPLAT, he is hit with a plasma round and it melts his head into a puddle of goo. I hope eventually Yang gets to see either a Spartan 2 or 3 in action.**

Answer: **While the action would most likely be less of a puddle of goo, and more of a singed skull. I get the point. I can wholeheartedly promise that something like this is already in the planning.**

Spell checker 11111: **I've got no idea how this story doesn't have more reads but keep it up it's great**

Answer: **Thank you for the support!**

 **Anyway I'll leave it there. I won't do all of the questions and reviews for this Q &A as this is an experiment, so please let me know what you think of it. I hope that you are all enjoying this story because the next chapter will be about before October ends… Hopefully.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 6 No One Unscathed

Chapter 6

No One Unscathed

My eyes opened slowly as the world came back into light. I use the term 'light' with caution as it was almost pitch black. The repeating pattern of a red light flashing inside the passenger cabin of the Bullhead would momentarily illuminate us. I rolled over onto my hands and knees and tried to stand up. The students around me looked terrified. I switched on VISR and pushed through the recovering children towards the cockpit.

I saw 2 bodies held sideways in their chairs limp. Only held in place by their straps. I checked the vitals of both pilots. I didn't hold my breath as I checked them, pilots didn't survive a crash all that often. Much to my expectations, they were dead. The Bullhead crashed on it's right side. Pushing through the crowd once more my team was pressed against the cabin walls. Signalling one of them over for a boost I got the height needed to reach the side door that was now overhead of us. I pulled the lever and gripped both hands on the side pulling it open slowly. The sun creeped in and temporarily blinded everyone. I opened up the door completely and climbed out leaning over the edge and pulling out my team one by one. Once all of Onyx was outside of the crash I got to business. "Onyx set a perimeter, Cooper help me get these kids outta here!"

Banshees flew overhead and I could see Phantoms fly into the city. Some carrying infantry, some carrying emplacements, some carrying armor. Time wasn't on our side. As we pulled out each student. A few spiratick gunshots came out of my team on the perimeter until the last person was out. We jumped down to the streets below to catch our bearings. I had at least 12 students with me, well… I did. They all shouted something alongside the lines of their team name and 'let's go!' before rushing off into the city without a clear plan. Intent on killing anything in site.

"Alright Onyx, our main OBJ for the time being is to get to the Vale Army base downtown and give CENTCOM an assessment." I got 7 acknowledgment signals over the HUD system as we moved into the city. Using back alleys and cutting through buildings. We had crashed at the air docks on the near the bay. So it's be at least 5 clicks out. As we passed through the plaza I'd fought in only a day ago I heard the familiar screeching in the sky. "Banshee!" We dove for the sides of the road as a Banshee bomb impacted the pavement and shot up cement. As we moved to our feet a Spirit flew in above us, quickly spotting my team, it fired it's main weapon with no mercy. I dove into a small bakery on the side of the road alongside Sierra and Kerry. We smashed through the glass and impacted the ground with a loud thud.

"Fuck we've got 3 chalks on the deck!" Martinez called out over comms. I shot to a crouched position and rested my BR55 on the frame of the windowsill. Much to Martinez's word, infantry was dropping from the Spirit above us. As each chalk hit the ground they opened fire on us. My head weaved down for a moment as a plasma round passed me by and slammed into the counter behind me. I reseted my cheek against the buttstock and aligned my sites on Elite firing a plasma rifle from the hip like they always did. I fired 6 rounds directly into its head, which popped his shield almost immediately. As I went to re-acquire my target, Sierra fired a round right through his skull for me. Slightly pissed off my kill was stolen I began firing single-round bursts into advancing Grunts. Each one giving off a high-pitch grunt as the round pierced their chests.

Sierra fired 3 more rounds from her sniper rifle and 3 more hostiles flew backwards onto their asses. The Spirit began gaining altitude and waved off as we started giving it flak once the chalks were dealt with. I rose to my feet, the sound of broken glass clinking and shattering as I walked over to the bakery door and kicked it down. I jogged back into the streets only to feel a sharp pain in my right leg. I looked down and noticed a glass shard was sticking out of my calf, the blood dripping out slowly. I took a hold of the piece and yanked it out, inspecting it for only a moment before throwing it away. I stretched out my leg slightly before sending a rally signal to my team. We still had a ways to go.

The further we ventured into the city the more apparent it became that I had overestimated Vale's defences. The closer we got to the base the more bodies we found. Kids, women, men, soldiers… Students. We passed a garden that had been located on a street corner on our way down Bullington Avenue. The once pretty flowers we splattered with blood as an old man lay limp. His blood soaking into the fine dirt beneath him, a clear energy sword wound in his sternum. I stepped over his body and moved towards the sounds of gunfire. The closer we got, I could here the slight hum of Covenant vehicles. More importantly I heard them…

"Bumblebee!" I heard in a panicked yell that could only belong to one voice and one voice alone, Ruby. We rounded the corner weapons drawn only to see Weiss hunched over behind a car and Yang laying down the hate on a Wraith. All while Blake zipped around trying to get in close and gut the enemy platoon in front of them. Everytime Blake went in she was met with an onslaught of enemy fire, effectively putting her out of the fight. Ruby layed down sniper fire picking off any infantry she could but the hesitation and disgust in her face made her aim shaky at best. Yang was hardly denting the Wraith and only tiring herself out. Seeing enough of the shit show my team opened fire on the platoon, tossing a grenade into the mix and watching the bodies fly. Half my team swept left to divide their attention, while Kerry, Jones, and I moved to the right in order to support RWBY directly.

"Kerry fix her up!" I pointed at Weiss. He rushed off and pulled out a medical kit attached to his belt and began field aid. Jones and I took up firing positions behind the cars and picked off any unlucky son of a bitch caught in the crossfire. Ruby, now seeing that she could fall back, zipped behind a car and pressed herself so hard against the side of it I swear she was in love. The last of the infantry fell but the Wraith was still on us. Yang continued her temper tantrum, losing all sense of reason as she stood in the open firing with reckless abandon. Seeing the Wraith lining up the shot i vaulted over the hood of the car and dove at Yang's back. We hit the hard pavement, narrowly missing the ball of heated death behind us.

"Matthews now would be a good time!?" The Wraith linedup it's shot again as the cannon cooled and prepared the next volley. Yang was nearly unconscious now so I wrapped my right arm around her waist and dragged her as quickly as i could behind a concrete slab big enough to hide ourselves. I peeked out only to see the Wraith stall for a moment, my head tilted before the vehicle shook violently and erupted into a volcano of plasma. "Anything else sir?" Cheeky fucker. I rose from my prone position and practically carried Yang back to the cars where Kerry was performing his magic. Along the way she mumbled something about 'my hero' or some shit sarcastically. I leaned her up against the side door and walked over to Ruby. My team creating a perimeter.

"The hell happened here?" She simply shook slightly as all life was sucked from her eyes. A mixture of red, purple, green, and blue blood scattered across her clothes. A normal person would get the meaning behind her expression, hold her tight, and tell her everything was okay now. This was a fucking war zone however.

"We went into the city looking for people to save an then we just found body after body. Even kids… Oh god, then they came down in these airships and they just kept coming and coming. There was one with a giant hammer that came through and just shrugged off any of our attacks before slamming Weiss into a building. I-I-I I" She was stammering and on the verge of tears. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her weapon off the hood of the car. Her big sister came by trying to comfort her. I pushed the sniper rifle into her hands and bent towards her. "Pick up your team and get moving, you can either run from the fight I warned you about… Or you can stick with us, but you're not going on your own. You're not ready for this." Kerry walked up to me and gave me SITREP.

"She'll live, some sort of shield protected her or something." He paused, I could've explained aura more clearly but I was so fucking done at this point. "Jones also got a comms in from the Major, UNSC Ground Forces just passed Beacon and are on their way… And the Friga-" He was caught off guard when a sudden rumbling began. The sound of air being cut in half created a haunting screech filled the city. A large grey ship flew over the city and stayed there as if to let us admire it. The Frigate had arrived. The ship made the Atlas one's look even tinier than they had before. Or atleast what was left of the Atlas fleet. I searched the skies only to see 3 ships still remaining. They'd lasted longer than expected.

"Alright everyone listen up, we've got one shot at this and one shot only. The Frigate and the Corvette are gonna be too busy fucking each other in the ass to worry about transports." I began walking away as my team stayed with me and RWBY closely followed. "We've got to get to that base and direct evacuation transports to Beacon, where the UNSC can protect them. Any farther out and they risk getting seen leaving the area by that Corvette and being blown to pieces." We passed another street corner and could see the base in the distance. Covenant dropships streamed in as new troops deployed constantly and inched forward each second. They wouldn't last long. The area was open with only a few pieces of hard cover between us and them. This would be a doozy.

"Yang and Matthews, I need you on that building right there to provide some fire support as we advance, thin them out." Matthew nodded confidently as Yang simply grunted and started towards the apartment building rooftop I had pointed out.

"Martinez, Ruby, Sierra. You're on overwatch, pick off any target that might cause to much shit for us to deal with. Everyone else on me!" My team formed up into a diamond formation as we shouldered our rifles and moved at a combat pace. Blake and Weiss stayed in the middle of the group by my order. I wasn't taking any chances. The Covies began to notice us and their plasma fire began diverting towards us. Didn't matter though, my team engaged and neutralized every target before they could pop off more than 2 shots. In our lowered position we moved ourselves from cover to cover, never ceasing in movement. As we neared the base I could see civilians streaming in helplessly. Those who weren't cut down as they entered were blown to bits by Banshees strafing from above. The evac site was fucked and there was no unfucking it.

I got Deruld to lay down suppressive fire as we pushed through the crowd and made our way into the base. Inside there were broken bodies and limbs strewn about the place from the blasts. Medics scrambled from person to person while NCO's panicked and barked commands. Probably reservists if anything. I ran up to one who seemed like he was in charge, maybe I could at least guide some of their forces and fix some of this. Frankly though, without the Atlas fleet as a meat shield these birds would never get off the ground.

"Hey!" I grabbed the man's shoulder firmly. He was scanning the horror around him, clearly experiencing some shell shock. He kept mumbling incoherently, I attempted to round him to his senses but nothing was working. Finally hitting 'fuck it' I grabbed his radio, but addressed my team to do something. "Onyx I need you guys to split up into different sections of the base direct forces accordingly. If they ask who you are just say Special Forces or someshit, they probably won't care." As each of my team members rushed off in different directions I addressed Weiss and Blake. "I need you 2 to calm these civilians down. These people seem to believe in you guys so do your job, guide them to the hangars. They'll listen to you better than military personnel." They nodded slowly and ran towards the gate. I don't hate Hunters, they serve a purpose and do it better than anyone else. They're not soldiers though, soldiers kill the enemy, Hunters make sure that you feel safe.

I turned on the radio and began what would probably be a long and bold defensive strategy.

"Listen up, I need everyone to follow my instructions to the T or we're all gonna die." I took in the chaos around me and tried to organize it. The front gate was being assaulted by low-level infantry, mainly Grunts and a few Jackals. The sides was where the real shit was going down, Elites and Brutes along with spec ops teams were engaging student-hunters. They'd keep them off our asses for long enough. "I'm keeping the birds grounded for the time being, until we have the airspace we can't risk it. Divert all evacuations to the hangars, we'll hold 'em there until further notice." I jogged over to the command building which had a dead guard on the door. I drew my sidearm and walked in slowly.

As I rounded the corner I activated my VISR. Nothing was there, must've been shot by a sniper or something.

I looked at a holo-table in the center of the room with a 3D display of the base and everything within 4 blocks. It gave me Battalion size, squads, available men, and access to other units. I quickly analyzed all the data in front of me and placed a defense marker outside the front gate on the table. At least their Army didn't fuck around with tech.

"I need squad 1 and 3 to push further out of the gate and secure and outer perimeter. The civi's are getting bottlenecked in. squad 2 and 4 I need you to handle support elements while squads 5 through 8 sweep the base for any incursions. Reinforcements are inbound" There was a long pause filled with static over comms. I was looming over the holotable and my legs crossed one another. That's when I got a reply from a platoon commander. "Who the hell are you?" I shot my arm up to my face and held the radio in front of my mouth. My tone becoming slightly pissed off.

"The fucking guy who's gonna save your asses now do what I say!" They weren't wrong for questioning me. A lot had dropped itself on top of them in the last hours. They had every reason to be suspicious, but right now we needed to start working. As I saw the squad icons on the table begin to move to my designated locations I used my own radio to contact CENTCOM.

"CENTCOM this is Onyx team reporting in for first assessment. Local forces are severely outmanned and outgunned if you wanna start saving civilians I recommend you start diverting air assets to the evac site to clear up some airspace so we can get these birds off the ground." I was given an almost immediate response, the familiar southern accent of Major Grant. His voice almost a relief in these uncertain times. "Good to hear from you Reeves, I'll start diverting the 27th Fighter Squadron over the city. That Frigate is doing the best it can at the moment and is laying down the hurt. Right now our only concern is about the population rather than the city." I licked my lips and swallowed a lump in my throat. That only meant one thing. As of right now I was the only acting commander of every single UNSC and Vale unit in the city. Here's hoping I wasn't rusty.

"Solid copy Major, I'm organizing what I have here but they just aren't capable of handling an invasion. I'm gonna need at least a Battalion of ODST's down here." I scrambled from one side of the table to the other, inputting commands to Vale Army units all while talking to the Major. Call me a single mother will ya.

"Pelicans won't do the trick we already tried air lifting reinforcements down here. Not a good idea, I'll also need vehicles on the ground once we've freed up some breathing room. Won't be long until they start rolling out the real heat." I ran to the other side once again and typed in a command on the bases systems. I wasn't a tech genius but I knew a thing or 2. I was trying to bring at least the air defenses online but the link had been cut manually. Spec ops probably.

"Okay, Reeves I can get you the 8th-" I cut him off rudely. "Hold that thought!" I switched channels to the squad to find Jones who was working with Kerry on the south end. "Jones I need you and Kerry to get to the air defenses near the North Western side of the base and bring them online, no excuses, get to it!" I then switched over to Matthews. "Matt I need you and Yang to really start laying down the heat and thinning out their infantry so friendly squads can set up an outer defence." I didn't need to hear their response as I flipped back to the Major. "Go ahead!" Time was running out before we would be overrun. "Like I was saying Reeves, I'll have the 8th Shock Battalion down in less than 1 minute. The 42nd Armored is also on standby to get lifted down once we have the all clear from you. Good work son, I'll be on comms if you need me!" Fucking hell this was actually looking good.

I fell forward as another Banshee bomb landed and kicked up concrete outside the command building door. Bringing myself up to my feet I prayed that maybe we would last another 5 minutes. I ran over to the side of the room an accessed a terminal connected to the bases communication relays. Using the connection and a bit of intuition I was able to faintly connect Vale frequencies to UNSC channels on a secure line. Until I could get Jones to set this shit up properly I would keep it locked up tight. "Command this is Helix actual, we got enemy armor advancing from the East, how copy?" Helix was one of the squads I'd assigned to defend our flanks, if that armor got into place we'd be boxed in more than we already are. "Loud and clear Helix, I'll have anti-armor at your location in less than 2 mikes. For the time being I need your squad to keep the armor from getting into firing position on the base." I waited before sending an OBJ update to Matthews, he'd have to work his way towards Helix to support them. "Command we ain't got the weapons to handle these things, they've been blowing through AT all day!" I could hear the rapid gunshots of an LMG in the background mixed in with plasma fire. None of standard issue Vale anti-tank munitions would do the trick so they'd have to get creative.

"Actual, spread your squad out and try to out-maneuver it. Give it more targets than it can handle, that'll buy you and the base some much needed time." We did this sorta thing a few times with Wraiths. Matt didn't have a spare rocket launcher in his ass but he did have a grenade launcher. If these guys could get the things attention he'd be able to pull off a shot near the rear exhaust chambers. The thing would be sent sky high afterwards. "Solid copy command, Helix out." I slid through files on the holo-table that entailed about the bases defenses. That's when the once red lights in the command building lit up green. My head perked up as I scanned my surroundings for any abnormalities. "Got it boss!" Jones screamed over comms. That's when an automated voice came over the intercom informing me of the change. " _Air Defense Systems online… Engaging targets."_ The voice was female in origin and somewhat calming. In contrast the sudden _**BRRRRRT**_ of the 6 barreled rotary cannons outside filled the air with sound. To civilians it was scary, but to us it was orgasmic. Then the sounds of missiles being fired and air being ripped apart by the nose tips of said missiles screeched in the sky. I ran outside of the small building and looked around. More and more civilians were being escorted into the hangars by more than just Weiss and Blake. Other student-huntsman were guiding them and the people followed closely. I kept the radio close to me as I rna to check the gates. Squads 1 and 3 had pushed back incoming infantry by almost 2 blocks and were gaining ground. All while the support teams kept any that slipped through at bay. My eyes wandered over the skies only to see the once swarming aircraft's tumbling towards the ground. The air defenses blasted as many Banshees, Phantoms, and Spirits out of the sky as they could. I called in the Major at that very moment. "Uh… Major we've got AA up but there just to many for the defense grid to handle. Where's the 27th?" A long pause filled the air before I could hear a faint sound. Couldn't of been very far out? It sounded like… Jet's flying in the air? Wait a minute?

As I enhanced the zoom on my helmet I could see a squadron of F-406 Katana's flying in formation. They drew closer swiftly and before I could take it all in the whole squadron was engaged in fighter combat. Dancing back and forth in the skies in dogfights, like a sudden weight was lifted off our shoulders the pressure of an air attack was gone. This was it. I ran back inside the command room and activated the PA system.

"All units be advised, we are commencing the evacuation, I repeat, we are commencing the evacuation. Escort all civilian personnel to the transports, the first wave is to be off the ground in 2 minutes." As the Frigate moved in closer I could see nearby enemy birds wave off and divert their attention to the bigger threat at hand. I checked the holo-table once more and saw that only a single, heavily damaged I might add, Atlas ship had survived. That same ship was currently retreating out of the city as top speed. To be honest I wasn't even angry at the decision. You could throw a stone at the ship and it would crash into the sea below in a flaming wreck.

As the students moved the civilians onboard I was getting incoming calls from the pilots, all requesting a location to be sent to. I swapped over to their channels and proceeded to warn them about the foreign army they were about to encounter. "Solid copy, you are to land at Beacon Academy for evacuation of the civilians. Don't worry you'll run into friendlies ready to take care of them with aid on standby. After you've unloaded head back here for another run, we'll need 2 max." They probably wondered what I meant by friendlies, but at the moment it wasn't important. That's when I was getting the all clear from multiple squads. Looked like we'd actually fought off a wave, we maybe had 5 minutes tops before the next one would arrive. "All units this is HQ send traffic." I braced myself for the oncoming storm of radio chatter. As all of it came through I processed each one. The defence squad had pushed to about 4 blocks but was short on men. Squads 2 and 6 were running dry, the support teams were out of position after a Brute came through and fucked some of them up. And worse of all, the sniper team was compromised. Ruby, Martinez, and Sierra were currently engaged in a firefight with retreating enemy forces. They were completely cut off from us. I held in the urge to grab my rifle and rally my team, I was in command now. Someone had to do this. "Major I got a sniper team compromised outside of my operational reach, I need those ODST's to start gaining ground." I was already sending out men to the defence squad and I had ammo enroute to squad 2 and 6.

"They're already on their way down." As the Frigate loomed over the city, pods rained down from it's belly. In a massive cluster I could see the entire battalion race towards the ground. As the sounds of the impacts echoed through Vale I connected myself to each squad and began designating targets. "Bravo 6, I've got a sniper team that's pinned down near central plaza. Marking them on your HUD's" I switched from channel to channel handing out orders like they were candy. Delta 4 was send on a demo OP on Covenant armor, Echo 1 was taking care of emassing foot mobiles half a click West of the base. The rest were simply pushing further out and creating that breathing room. "Sir, we could use a hand, Sierra just took a nasty hit!" Martinez busted into the comms channel loudly. The sound of overwhelming plasma fire and a few metallic sniper shots could be heard. They were running out of time, I didn't like this at all. "Sit tight Martinez, I've got ODST's inbound to support." That seemed to keep him quiet for the time being. I breathed a sigh of frustration, but that's when we heard it. A faint buzzing in the air that seemed just louder than all of the other noises of the battle. It grew louder and louder until it vibrated through the air and lightly shook the ground for what felt like the 5th time today. As my eyes peered over the holographic display I realized that the noise was Covenant in origin, at first I thought it was a weapon of some kind but it soon became clear what it was.

Reinforcements.

A second wave of Phantoms, Spirits, Banshees, and other Covenant aircraft poured out of the moderately damaged Corvette like a swarm of bees. They spread out over the city and began deploying more infantry, vehicles, and emplacements. We barely survived the first, we needed the second set of transports to pick up the civilians soon or there wouldn't be a base to defend. The 27th immediately engaged in the air and our air defenses spun up once more. We had 15 minutes maximum at this point, ammunition was being burned through like ice cream in hell. Not to mention that even with ODST support they were basically just a band-aid on a gangrenous wound. A few extra bodies to recover anything still left in the city and divert enemy forces while evacuations were underway.

"Command this is Mako 1-1 we're inbound for further civilian evacuation, what's the situation!" Of all times, they had to show up now! Fucking now! "I read you Mako, be advised LZ is hot. Continue with evacuation as planned, we can't wait any longer!" I checked the radar to see a flock of air transports flying around the dogfights, they were coming in low and fast. I hopped on the PA system and began the final stages of the evacuation. "All personnel, final evacuations are underway, please escort remaining civilians to the landing pads. I repeat, escort all remaining civilians to the landing pa-" I was cut off mid sentence as a blast threw me over the command table and into the adjacent wall. I slammed into the terminals and workstations attached to the wall before hitting the ground with a thud, something was definitely broken. I slowly rose to my feet and looked at where the blast came from, the wall I was once standing by was nothing but a molten and charred hole. Along with almost anything near it.

The command building systems began malfunctioning afterwards. Ain't no way in hell I was getting this thing back up and running in time. I was gonna have to do this the old fashioned way. I pulled the radio I took from the, now retired, commander up to my mouth. "I need all squads to fall back into a tight perimeter around the base now!" This was the endgame. With limited options and only a few more minutes until everything went to shit I did exactly what I was trained to do. Bring my rifle up to my shoulder and racking the charging handle I ran off towards the sound of gunfire, not caring about how bad it was, only aiming to kill shit. Like any good Marine would.

As I reached the front gate I saw that what was left of the remaining squads was being cut down man by man. With no medics in sight the wounded were doomed to bleed out painfully. I levelded my weapon and began firing at the horde of Grunts, Jackals and Elites ahead. I could hear the engines of the air transports get louder and louder throughout the fight. As we were slowly pushed back into the base we lost more and more men. 6 squads turned to 4, 4 squads swiftly got turned into 3. We were getting pushed back to the hangars, only about 100 meters away from the landing pads. I looked to my right and another squad was riddled with plasma, their bodies left scarred and burned on the ground beneath them. Some of their freshly sizzled skin still smoking from the impacts. We continued falling back until only Onyx team remained against what felt like an entire enemy battalion. So I was forced to make the toughest decision of my life. Do I have my team evacuate with the rest of the civilians and what remains of both military and hunter personnel alike. Or do we stay to located the rest of my team pinned down by enemy forces. One guaranteed death, the other had the possibility. "Commander it's time to leave, get onboard right fucking now I have to take off!" Mako was shouting into his microphone at this point and who couldn't blame him. His entire squadron of transports were being pressured on the ground, but I had made my decision.

"Mako dust off, I repeat, Mako dust off now!" The response was immediate and clear. "Copy that!" The airships quickly ascended into the closing airspace and fired off towards the Beacon cliffs, all while the 27th covered their asses. With no chance of escape and told what remained of my team to fall further back to the motor pool. To be specific what remained of my team was Matthews, Deruld, Jones, Kerry, Cooper, and a very pissed of Yang that was more of a problem than an asset. As rushed inside the motor pool and caught our breathes I decided to enact step one in my 'try not to die' plan. "Matthews… I uhh need you to rig this thing with explosives." I stammered out the orders under labored breaths. Whatever I broke was making it VERY fucking hard to get oxygen into my body. "You got it sir!" He panted out as he began sticking almost every explosive he had into or onto the damn thing. The vehicle looked like a fat Warthog, MRAP they called it. I scurried around the workshop inside the building for something with weight. I found a wrench that would do the trick in the corner.

"Everyone fucking hide!" I shooed everyone away as I began opening up the front gates of the motor pool, I then swapped the gears on the MRAP and dropped the wrench on the pedal. I then dove behind a stack of crates as the garage door opened up fully and the enemy began firing at in. The MRAP slammed through the first line of unlucky infantry before barreling towards the center of the base, completely out of control. As it gained the full attention of the Covenant assault force we slipped through one of the back doors and made our way through the rear gates and into the city. With a clear line of sight on the MRAP which was now stuck in the side of the building, the covies inched closer with caution. As they got within arms reach I nodded at Matt. He pressed a button on the side of his wrist and the MRAP exploded into a heaping fireball of slag and metal shrapnel. Taking anything with it and causing a chain reaction with the bases generators. Which caused an even bigger explosion to engulf even more infantry.

"Yup… Totally planned for that." I gained a few chuckles from my team as i lead them back down into the city. We were actively tracking the sniper team as we moved. If we were lucky the ODST's had them on the move the secondary extraction point near the bay. "Major, downtown vale has been evacuated but the base has been overrun. As of right now Covenant forces are occupying the city. Can't say why?" They didn't tend to do that. They just pulled their forces out and burned everything to the ground most of the time. "Good to hear we atleast got the civilians out of it. I'm requesting that we pull back the _Phoenix_ , the Frigate has taken a pounding. Extraction is in less than 15 minutes, get on that bird or get left behind." I gazed up towards the warships above and true to his word, the _Phoenix_ was in bad shape. Same could be said about the Corvette. My eyes fixated back on the waypoint marker on my HUD, we still had some people to find.

The sniper team was more than 2 clicks away. So we threw caution to the wind in order to make time. We passed Boulver Street and the training center I had briefly taught at. With less than 500 meters to go now we could hear the sounds of dominant plasma fire. We were lucky to just sneak by the patrols on the way hear, this would be a whole new firefight. We rounded the street corner and took a hold of the situation, a Ghost was strafing side to side on the other side of a small shop. All while relentlessly firing every shot it had towards the store. Maybe 4 Covenant squads were slowly advancing while the Ghost provided suppressive fire, this wasn't a battle my sniper team could win. Luckily I could see ODST helmets pop up from behind counters and tables. I nodded towards Matthews who unslung his grenade launcher and shrugged his shoulders. Yang wearily took up a battle stance while the rest of my team readied their weapons.

Matthews popped off with a grenade bouncing in between the Ghost and enemy squads. The explosion flipped the vehicle over and sent 4 Grunts, 2 Jackals, and 1 Elite flying through the air. Their own respective body part flying with them. Deruld opened up with a stream of fire from his LMG while Cooper began closing the distance with his SMG. All while Kerry, Jones, and I provided precise fire on any target we thought was too much of a threat for these 3 to handle. The rhythmic cracks of my rifle rang out like the rapid beat of a drum. **Crack** , 3 rounds ripped through the chest of a Jackal. **Crack** , a bullet sailed inside of an Elites skull. We advanced slowly making sure they couldn't reach cover. All while the ODST's seized their opportunity and began pushing out of the shop. What once was a water barrel shootout for the Covenant was now a war on 2 fronts. As their numbers dwindled and the bodies rised we pressed further down the street until the last Elite fell. Our weapons remained level as we kicked and scanned each body. All dead, each one.

My eyes turned towards the shop once more, from behind the counters came a limping Martinez and a banged up Sierra. That's all I really cared about. However, there was a final member we had to account for. Ruby slowly hunched up, using her rifle as a crutch with lots of bandages across her side and leg. She looked pale and stumbled out of ths shop. The only thoughts I could think of were dead bird. She was out of the fight for sure. Yang rushed off with a new sense of energy that would of been helpful 20 minutes ago and squeezed her sister so tight I swore she was trying to kill her. "What happened to her?" I asked an ODST Sergeant who was loading a new magazine. He responded in a very pissed off manner. "Tried to take on a team of Zealots…" My eyes widened and my head recoiled back. These kids did have a death wish. This shit was getting out of hand. The Sergeant then stabbed his finger into my chest and raised his tone so that certain… Individuals could hear him. "Next time you ask my team to babysit, make sure that you inform us the kids are suicidal." I simply chuckled and knocked his hand out of the way. "Hey man, I didn't ask for this either." He seemed to nod in understanding now. Despite the bitter rivalries between Force Recon and ODST's, we both could agree that these kids and this situation was fucked equally.

Yang, of course, being the upfront person she is. Immediately stormed up to me and began shouting. "Hey, it's not like you could do any better. Things were fine before you and your soldier buddies walked in here!" I held my tongue and fist back with all my will. Now was not the time to argue. "Save it sugartits, we've still got to get to extract-" My head perked upwards as I let my ears listen closely. A small squishy sound mixed with an in time thumping. Like a T-rex was coming down the street itself. "Everyone off the street now!" I grabbed Yang's arm and we sprinted towards the shop they'd just came from. I waved for everyone to hide and wait. In the silence the thumping became louder and louder. A a low humming roar could be heard approaching. Eventually the stomps became to strong that glass on the ground began shaking and jumping. I peeked out from behind a table and looked out, that's when I saw it. The armored legs and head, the massive body surging with life and worms. It was a Goliath, I'd only ever seen 2 before. On recon ops before a larger operation, never been this close though. Goliaths were the culmination of 2 Hunter colonies merging together. Not a pretty thing to see one in battle. My head slowly drew back in. That's when Ruby doubled over in pain, she tried to suppress the painful gasp the best she could. It was far too late though. The Goliath's head shot towards the shop we concealed ourselves in.

Fuck.

It scanned a little hard and tired to find the source of the noise.

Fuck.

It's head tilted quickly before an angry growl was let out.

Oh shit.

The Goliath slammed it's armored head into the shop once, shaking the foundation to it's very core. Again, the front entrance fram was collapsing and it's head was beginning to jam itself into the little store. We popped up from our hiding spots and started firing relentlessly at it's massive head, chipping away the armor. Any damage we did to it only seemed to annoy it.

"Victor 1-7 I need CAS on my location ASAP, we're pinned down by a goddamn Goliath. Gun run, I repeat, gun run." I continued firing at the bulging head. It slammed itself once again into the store, like trying to force a square peg in a circle hole. We continued backing up looking for an alternate exit, it had blocked the only way out. "Onyx actual we read you 5 by 5, CAS is on station. I'll be inbound in less than 45 seconds, sit tight." At this rate we may only have 20. The giant monster in front of us continued it's advance without hesitation. We relentlessly fired as many rounds as we could, and it began looking like we were actually starting to mildly irritate it. By we I mean my team and the ODST's, Ruby was incapable of handling the recoil of her weapon in her wounded state. Yang was on the verge of collapse AND out of ammunition. Matthews couldn't even use his explosives without blowing all of us being turned into piles of goo. The Goliath inched closer and closer, almost within arms reach at this point. That's when the all too familiar sound of rotary cannons kicked in. That beautiful _**BRRRRRRT**_ was muffled out behind the massive creature, but it was loud enough. It winced in pain before slowly pulling itself out of the shop and gazing towards the sky. It's head followed what I could only assume was a F-406 in a circular pattern. Still on it's hind legs the Goliath turned, only to raise its arms in front of its face helplessly. In a matter of seconds I could see round after massive round tore through its fleshy body helplessly, the armor it wore withstood momentarily. Only to collapse and break under the shear force and penetration of a fighters gun. The Goliath slowly backed up under the pressure of the hailstorm of bullets until I began to see orange blood splash on the street beneath it.

The Goliaths mid section began being torn apart by the bullets, like a swarm of carnivorous wasps ripping it apart bit by bit. Until eventually it was ripped in half by the massive 110mm bullets. The top half fell backwards onto the side of a building, the thing squirmed and writhed in pain for a few seconds before going limp. It's bottom half just tipped over onto the side of the street. A literal pool of orange blood began forming near its body. We walked out of the shop slowly, taking in the magnificent, yet disgusting sight before us. Ruby looked like she was gonna puke, Yang was just in shock. I chuckled out loud at their distressed faces. "Good hunting Victor." The F-406 Katana circled one more time before cruising off to join the rest of it's squadron.

"Alright time to move, we can worry about our argument later Yang, let's go!" As pissed as she was, she had the common sense to understand that now as not the time to fight ourselves. We rushed off towards the bay area as the Major routinely reminded everyone on the ground that time was running out and the Covenant were taking the city. We were on the edge of the waterfront when Spectres and Shadows ripped around street corners slinging hot plasma at us. We rushed closer and closer to the Pelicans until we were under the cover fire of their rear gunners. As the MG in the troop compartment fired away ODST's and a few lost students loaded up into the 5 pelicans hovering over the edge of the bay. As squad after squad loaded up I called out to my team. "Onyx what are we!" As my team set a defensive perimeter around the LZ I was given a synchronized response. A little motto I yelled out to keep our intensity up near the end of the mission. "First in last out, sir!" As my team held the perimeter while the remaining UNSC forces boarded, the number of Covenant targets began multiplying. We slowly creeped closer and closer to the Pelicans until an ODST Captain came over my comms channel. Who the hell gave him my comms channel?

"That's everyone who isn't dead Lieutenant, time to go!" I slammed a new mag into my BR55 and transitioned into a idle carry. My rifle was pointed up in the air and I made my way to the Pelicans tailgate ramp. Propping myself onto it I brought my weapon down once more and popped more shots off. We began taking more and more fire from the enemy. "Pack it up Onyx!" As my team fell back to the Pelicans we loaded up quickly. The rear gunners never taking the door gunners never taking their finger off the trigger for a moment. Once my team was seated and strapped in the Pilots communicated something I couldn't quite make out over comms. With the constant MG fire, plasma fire, roaring engine, and explosions going off I was surprised I could hear at all.

The tailgate closed and the 5 Pelicans stationed for extraction lifted through the skies and shot towards the UNSC _Phoenix_ as it retreated away from the city. As we passed Beacon cliffs I could see more Pelicans taking off, probably with civilians. Like I had warned before, Vale had fallen. The Covenant would destroy anything left and burn this planet, just like the hundreds of worlds before it. I gazed out through the small window in the tailgate and looked at the damaged Corvette. It's starboard side was sagging towards the ground and large purple flames erupted from seemingly random locations. At least we had fucked it up. Well, I thought so until a massive MAC blast tore through the ship and nearly turned it sideways. My eyes widened as I looked for the source of the shot, that's when I saw an all too familiar Halcyon come into view. The UNSC _Ascension_ , my home ship.

My shock and awe soon wore off as we entered the Frigate hangar bay. The tailgate opened and my team jumped off quickly. The hangar was loaded with people, engineers fixing shit, Naval personnel evaluating shit, and of course. Marines moving shit. I told my team to get some chow and a quick rest, but stay in combat gear. We wouldn't be here long after all, We'd soon be transferred back to the _Ascension._ As my team eagerly rushed off towards the mess hall, I stood at the edge of the hangar observing the crashing Corvette. I popped my helmet off and let my sweat ridden face breath for once. The sight was almost beautiful in a way. A tap on the shoulder brought me out of my thoughts though. To my fucking surprise it was Ozpin, followed by my 2 pain in the asses, Ruby and Yang. I was excited to see Ozpin, I could respect the man, same couldn't be said about the other 2 after today though.

"Hey Oz.."

"Hello Reeves, I am glad to see that you and your team are okay. Many people, my students included, can't say the same." I felt a slight twitch of anger and shot a fairly nasty glance towards Ozpin, I usually have a good temper in battle, but today was not my best day. "They wouldn't be dead if they had listened to me." Ozpin only shot me a confused glance. "Before the battle I warned the students of the incoming threats and told them to arm themselves in case they assaulted Beacon. Next thing I know we've got students playing hero in the middle of a war." I wasn't even raising my voice. Ozpin simply nodded his head and turned to walk away. That's when Ruby, even in her wounded state, busted in. "What were we supposed to do? Wait and watch!" My face went from calm to flabbergasted in a millisecond. Was she serious? "Of course you were, you're trained to hunt oversized animals. Not handle civilian evacuation and be strategically deployed to counter an invasion, that's the UNSC's job. You're not soldiers!" her head tilted in a pouty manner before she crossed her arms and leaned forward. Her presence was filled with energy and sass that wasn't once there. "Our JOBS as Huntsman is to protect humanity!" My arms shot up in the air in an exasperated look. You gotta be fucking kidding me!

"Ruby you and I both know that's a bullshit PR angle used to romanticize the position." She recoiled back and shifted uncomfortable at my words. "You know who else's job it is to 'protect humanity'. Mine, but you don't see me trying to handle charity work. Because that's not what my job entails!" She was starting to realize that I had a point as she began meekly looking down at the floor. "Everytime you Huntsman get involved in either a military OP or law enforcement, it ends in a shit show. Just take the breach for example, I was on my way to disabling the train and stopping the whole operation where it was. Then guess what? You Huntsman burst in all loud and proud and fuck everything up!" I just threw my hands up. I was done. I was so fucking done with the day, someone send me back down there because I'd prefer that over this. "Ya' know what? I'm done with this. If you're looking for Weiss and Blake their somewhere on board. This ship is acting as a refugee camp so get looking. You're welcome!" I turned around sharply and walked towards the chow hall. I couldn't wait to get some food and be sent back down to kill some shit. These kids were just too much.

From what I picked up over comms we'd be moving to Atlas next. Vale was evacuated, Vacuo got decimated, and Mistral was being occupied. I hope whatever HIGHCOM and ONI saw in this world was worth it.

Because right now it seemed like all we had was another dead planet on our hands.

I checked my watch, the invasion had begun at 11:37 AM.

It was now 12: 28 PM.

Less than an hour.

We were so fucked.

 **That's the chapter everyone. Down goes Vale with a whimper, we're off to whiter pastures with Atlas. Not much to say except this one took forever and a lot of time. I swear I've proofread this thing at least 5 times, I'm probably still missing some mistakes.**

 **Let's break 3000 views here boys!**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave reviews because I love them.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 7 Holding Up The World

Chapter 7

Holding Up The World

I pushed past hordes of civilians in the halls of the UNSC _Pheonix_. As I squirmed and wiggled my way through body after body I eventually found myself at the mess hall alongside other Marines. I practically waddled over to the line and grabbed anything that I could eat with just my hands. That just so happened to be 2 pieces of toast and an apple. I scurried out of the massive group of hungry Marines to an area where I could look around the tables. That's when I realized that it wasn't only Marines in the mess hall but ONI Ground Ops, ODST's, and even some Army Special Warfare operators. Most people, even servicemen, couldn't tell much of a difference. I'd been in the game long enough to pinpoint these things though. The camo used, their gear, even the ways each group scanned the room differently.

See the ODST's always felt safe up in these ships. They knew that the real hell was below them, so they kept an easy eye on every way to leave the room in the event they get called for a drop.

ONI Ground Ops are less focused on almost anything. They don't search for possible cover points or even possible threats in the area. They keep their heads low, but listen to every single sound around them.

Army Operators were a lot different though. See they are frantically watching every entry and exit point in the room. These guys were some of the best when it came to CQC so being in an enclosed environment set them off a bit. The way they always keep any weapons they might have on them within maneuvering distance. It was interesting to analyze.

So what do I find sitting at the back of the room in a quiet corner. Onyx Team of course, who else. All their Gungnir helmets were scattered across the table as each one shoved as much food into their mouths as they could. I think we all knew what was coming next. With whatever remained of both the Atlas Fleets around Remnant, and that of the UNSC Fleet. We'd be rallying around there until command either cut all ties with this world, or went down with it. Either way, there was gonna be a long fight ahead.

I sat down with my team and their heads raised towards me. Probably though I had something to say. With a half eaten piece of toast shoved in my mouth I answered their question. "I ain't got anything to say." Of course though it was a lot more distorted and muffled due the deliciously crunchy piece of food I was eating. They returned to their feast as I finished. Even Sierra wasn't afraid to absolutely devour the mashed potatoes, bread buns, and anything else on the tray she had infront of her. Marines are always the same, don't matter who you are. That's when the abrupte ringing of the Frigate's PA system coming to life assaulted our ears. I also had a feeling that I knew exactly who it was for. So I basically swallowed my last piece whole.

"Would Onyx and Anvil team both report to the briefing room ASAP." My team rolled their eyes or let their heads sag down to the table. Martinez even began to jolt his shoulders in a comedic pout, I slapped him on the back with all the energy I had left. He sat up straight immediately and nearly screamed in surprise and pain. "Cut the shit Onyx, take your food with you." They all seemed somewhat delighted with that new piece of information and grabbed their trays. A few even grabbed more food on the way out. As for me, I just had an apple to finish. I clipped my helmet to my hip and began munching down on the red fruit in my hand. Letting the taste sink in every second. As we reached the civilian infested halls we noticed that fewer and fewer were crammed in their. That's when we saw student-huntsman and even actual Huntsman guiding people down a hall in an orderly fashion. Way more organized then when I had arrived.

Not bad.

They were guiding them towards thee. Um, where were they leading them? I popped my head around the hall and looked for any signs indicating where they were going. A large arrow with the words 'Cargo Bay' were inscribed on the wall. Not a bad spot to put them, might give a few Crewman a headache but at least in the event of a boarding or god forbid Naval combat. They'd be in the safest spot. We passed the armory and a few other spots that weren't all that interesting. We rounded another corner and found ourselves inside the Frigates briefing room, on an elevated position lied a holographic table and a Naval Commander. Behind him stood a group of 5 VERY tall men i couldn't quite make out in the lighting. The Commander was Hispanic in ethnicity and had a thick bush growing on his upper lip. Along with sharp brown eyes that might kill you if you looked at them to long. "About time Onyx, I was wondering if you got lost. C'mon get up here." he waved his hand towards us ushered my team to the side of the holographic table.

That's when the 5 man team came into view. They were over 6 feet tall and wore bulky armor around their whole body over a thick black undersuit. Over their faces were a different myriad of helmet types. Some I had never seen before, one was the all too familiar Recon helmet ONI liked to wear. Another was practically a glass dome, EVA I assumed. The other 3 though, couldn't quite tell. I'd have to worry about that later. Wasn't everyday we worked with Spartans. "Okay listen up, now normally Onyx you'd be sent back to your home ship. The Ascension, but for right now there's another mission you're gonna have to handle." A profile image appeared over the table, it was Major Grant's picture, all with an audio bar to the side of it. His southern voice broke the room. "Yes, I would've had you transfer to the Ascension but we're mopping up in Vale. Though with those weird black fuckers now flooding the city like a Hurricane in Florida, we may not have too." There was a slight pause and even hesitation in the Majors voice. "I've signed off on this mission, mainly due to the potential it holds. All yours Commander." The line was then cut from there and the table switched the outlook to that of a storm ridden mountain range.

"While the Ascension will be staying behind to mop up the rest of the active Naval assets will rendezvous at the last major human settlement. The now named Atlas, thanks to some of our engineers effort we were able contact what remained of this world's military infrastructure." I resisted every urge in my body to groan out loud. I already knew who they were talking about. "General Ironwood is the leader of the Atlas military, Reeves is already familiar. Through some… Interesting negotiations we brokered a deal." My displeasure had dissipated from my body. Only curiosity was left, what did they have that the UNSC could want? "Your mission is to extract a VIP from the 'Devils Pass' mountain range. The area has come under both Covenant siege and the now names 'Grimm' attacks. Thanks to its location however, both have seemed fruitless for the time being." Okay made sense, extract a VIP. probably a politician and they'd give us what we'd want. I hated when politics got mixed in with war, made shit way too complicated. "Why do they need Force Recon and a Spartan team for this mission. I know these guys could probably do the whole thing themselves." I wasn't an idiot, these guys made my team look like kids in comparison. We'd probably just slow them down if anything. Then again, these weren't the Spartans I'd seen before, they were shorter and their armor seemed different. Not too mention they talked a bit more than the green machines I'd encountered a few years back. A new generation maybe? I'd heard some rumours about a new group or something when working with ONI.

"Yes, normally we'd rather just send these guys in, no questions asked. However, The Major and Ironwood both made it a point that you be on site personally. Ironwood seemed to believe that with your experience on this world that you could guide them better than the last team. Grant didn't say why though…" Wait last team? I had lost all focus on what he had said about Ironwood. Didn't really give a shit to be honest, but they had sent other teams? Also, they were blowing my experience on Remnant way out of proportion. I'd only been here for maybe 3 days more than them. So many questions, but I'd stick to the point. "Um sir, What other teams were sent down?" The Commander shuffled in place for a minute. "We sent 2 teams down. The first were ODST's. They got hit almost immediately, the snow bogged them down and fended off Grimm attacks for nearly an hour with no real problems. Then the ammo ran dry and we lost contact." He paused before pulling up another team on the holo table. This time the group was comprised of ONI Operatives. "The second team we attempted to insert higher up. Despite some warnings about a blizzard rolling in, we thought they could land quick enough." He breathed in slowly. "We were wrong, the Pelican was ill-equipped for the conditions and once it crashed it was only a matter of time before both Covenant and Grimm closed in." That was not encouraging… In the slightest.

"You're Task Force will be sent down via a heavily modified Pelican for the environment. If we can land you quick enough you might be able to bypass any Grimm entirely and make your way to the target building. The VIP is held up tight in a panic room that even the Covies are having a tough time getting through. Once you've got the VIP signal for extraction and we'll have one within 5 minutes." Yeah hell no, I was not gonna have this plan entirely based on the fact that we might get lucky. Fuck no. "Sir with all due respect we are not risking the entire mission on the chance we might land quickly?" I'd run missions in snowy environments before. In fact, in mountain ranges just like this one, even our best pilots would have to circle an LZ for almost 5 minutes before landing. All that would do is turn the Pelican into a missive spinning dinner bell for Grimm. "Any better options. Because right now we are out of them." He was right, hard pressed for any other choices I'd have to get creative. As much as our guys were effective killers and could handle the black skinned fuckers, just wasn't our field of specialty. I didn't like what we'd have to do, but it's the only way to survive the insertion. "We could assign a Hunter team detachment, a fairly large one at that. They may not be the best in our field but Grimm is their territory." I peered over the holographic table and brought in 2 team icons over the mountain range. "We wouldn't have to worry as much about the LZ. Simply land near the target building and let them handle the Grimm while our entry teams breach in and secure the VIP." The icon that I had assigned as 'Hunter' was placed on rear security on the holo map.

"That's a good plan, but where would we find 2 Hunter teams to do the job, most are dead or traumatized?" I paused and bit my bottom lip. This was gonna be awkward. "I uh… I know some people." Oh god.

The PA system sprang to life as I held the mic closer in the briefing room.

"Would Teams RWBY and JNPR please report to the briefing room ASAP." This was gonna be fun.

I took them longer than expected to enter the room. I guess we should be fair, probably got lost. Team JNPR entered enthusiastically and walked straight up the stairs to my left side. I greeted Jaune and looked down at RWBY, who were still placed at the door with some hesitation. "I won't bite, get up here." There was clear and present bad blood between them and I, all of which is completely understandable. To be honest after Vale, I thought that'd be the last I'd ever see of them. Guess not. They slowly paced up the stairs all while Ruby stared at the ground in a shy manner, and Yang was holding back the urge to kill me. Ever the temper tantrum she was. "Alright listen up, I'm only explaining this once because we'll be in the AO in less than 2 hours." While they were on their way here I decided to catch the Commander's name. Keeping with the hispanic look his last name was Hernandez. "You're objective is to locate and secure a Atlas VIP in the 'Devil's Pass' mountain range. You'll be inserted via Pelican near the peak. Our 2 Huntsman teams will be elegantly designated Hunter 1-1 and Hunter 1-2, your job is to handle any Grimm advancing on the target building while entry teams handle the Covenant inside. The entry teams will be Anvil and Onyx team, once the VIP is secured extraction will be flown down." He paused and zoomed in on the target building. At first I thought it was some research facility but it looked more like a luxurious mansion now, it even had its own landing pad on the side that hung over the cliffs.

"The LZ will be located on the Northern side of the building, on the landing pad. By then the blizzard will be much worse so our window will start closing. Be quick, our job is to get the VIP out of here. Not all of you." That last fact seemed to startle the 2 teams. I chuckled at it, I hear this shit all the time. I've been left behind, deserted, or trapped on many occasions. This would be no different. That's when the gentle voice of one Weiss Schnee broke the silence. "Um… Sir, who exactly is the VIP?" Good question, had to be someone very important to Remnant that they'd swallow their pride and send in us to grab him. "The VIP is one Jacques Schnee, from what Ironwood told us. He's the owner of the Schnee Dust Company, in return for his rescue he offers the UNSC a VERY large sum of dust. Which seems to be something ONI are enjoying quite a lot. Anything you'd like to add?" The Commander said jokingly. The dots connected in my head, Weiss Schnee - Jacques Schnee, oh god. Weiss perked up in an offended manner and moved to open her mouth, but stopped herself and seemed to fade into the back of the room. "If that's all then briefing dismissed, you all know your assignments, armory is entirely open to you. Any gear you need will be provided, I need not remind you of how critical this mission is to UNSC operations on Remnant. Without that dust HIGHCOM will order a full scale withdraw." He looked over at the Huntsman teams with a haunting voice. Emphasizing each word. "And your world will fall." He stood up straight again and brought one hand behind his back while another tapped away at the holo-table. "Your ride leaves in an 1 hour and 30 minutes. Get to it." My team along with the now names Spartan team, Anvil, saluted and proceeded out of the briefing room to the armory. All while Team RWBY and JNPR followed closely behind, this was a simple mission. Get in, grab the VIP, get out. 'Lotta things could go wrong though, and if we fucked up. My team would probably be sent on suicide missions the rest of our careers, as if we weren't already.

Landing hundreds of feet above sea level in an already infamous mountain range known for its instability. One that had claimed lives from it's climate alone, what kinda person builds a mansion there!? Nah, we were fucked from the word go. My team was ready though, while most of them were new to Force Recon, I wasn't. I'd survived siege after siege, and world after world. Doesn't matter what they throw at me, 'cause I always find a way out. One of these days though, I'd run into a lucky bastard that'd slot me for good. Better make it worth it. We entered the armory and grabbed our assorted weapons off the rack, we'd have to delegate ammo accordingly. "We'll have the entry teams run it pretty light, we're in and out. You kids grab lots of ammo, no telling how many you'll have to face down there." The now designated 'Hunter' team nervously shuffled around the room from station to station. Loading up on anything that could be used in their weapons. Took them awhile to find everything though, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching them scramble.

Anvil and my own team were in and out, our helmets were already equipped with NVG, FLIR, Thermal, the whole nine-yards. Seeing how Anvil was a Spartan team though, they'd get all the goodies. Our basic loadout was meant to be able to function in almost any environment, only every needing slight tweaks. We found ourselves on the flight deck of Hangar A4, The Pelican was already being fitted with all the modifications it needed. I probably couldn't pronounce the shit they were putting on it but it looked like it was getting a lot fatter and a lot more guns on it. They were turning it into a damn gunship. As the Spartans grouped up near a pile of crates, one was re-assembling it's rifle. The other was tapping something on a datapad, and the other 3 just sat down on a box and waited. My team on the other hand was talking about the mission ahead, particularly about how we wouldn't have to babysit the children this time. I somewhat agreed, I didn't hate Hunters. They had their role of fighting the Grimm. And they did it better than any of us could. They weren't soldiers though, so I rather liked the idea of them handling Grimm while we did the soldiering part. Everyone wins.

As if on queue the Hunter team walked right through the Hangar Bay doors, fully equipped in their diverse set of clothing to put it mildly. Of course though, they'd probably commandeered some heavy clothing along the way as well, as their usual outfits were now replaced with the same color palet. Just more padding and insulating this time. Hunter team walked up to mine and the 2 sub-team leaders, or squad leaders as they should be called, stood in front of me. I brought the thick cigar out of my mouth and let out a plume of smoke. "Anything I can do 'fer ya?" It was Ruby and Jaune, each looked somewhat scared or nervous at the daunting task ahead. "Um… So Reeves, we weren't very clear on something before we left briefing." Should've fucking asked it then my man. Jaune had his arms crossed and shoulders sagged in a very shy manner. He was definitely terrified of me, when I first introduced myself to him he was more curious of who I was. Now that he knew though? Wonder what was going off in his head.

"Okay… Continue?" I placed the cigar back in my mouth and raised an eyebrow. What were they playing at? He brought his finger up to speak only for Ruby to take a step forward within stabbing range and but in. "Who are those guys?" Her thumb gestured towards the Spartan team near the Pelican. Ah, I get it now. I brought the cigar out of my mouth and began waving it around as I spoke. "Those would be Spartans, UNSC's absolute best. I've worked alongside some in the past but these ones seem different. Shorter, less robotic. Still a bunch of sociopaths though…" My team nodded with approval and continued with their own individual business. All while both RWBY and JNPR listened in. I mentally slapped myself, why did I say sociopath! Now their hooked. "Look, if you think me and my team are mechanically efficient. Well… These guys are a whole 'nother level. A single team can capture entire bases on their own. 'Lotta rumours going around about where they find people like them." Thinking my answer had satisfied them, I bit down on my cigar once more smuggly.

I enjoyed one more good puff as I looked towards the ceiling in pleasure. A tap on the shoulder and a 'go on' motion from Ruby made it clear that they wanted more. Damn these kids were persistent. "Most of which are all classified or proven false. Nobody knows where Spartans come from, they just sorta… Appear 'ya know." They all finally nodded and walked off to do their own pre-mission prep. Before I could get a good puff in the pilot walked up to me. "Engines being spun up and all required modifications have been installed. We're wheels up in 5 minutes." The engine got louder and louder as the pilot walked away. Letting off one last piece of information before boarding his Pelican. "Get your men on board!" I nodded and looked to my team, who were already placing their helmets on. I stood up and looked at the beautiful brown substance in my hand. "Alright everyone, we're wheels up in 5 mikes. Load up!" I took one last puff of the cigar before dropping it on the ground walking towards the ramp. Each team of the now designated Joint Task Force Delta ran into the Pelican to find a seat. Each person found their seats quickly and strapped themselves in. Even Hunter 1-1 and Hunter 2-1 did so faster than expected. I slowly walked up to the tailgate and climbed aboard, surveying each person and making sure all was set. I then walked over to the cockpit and knocked on the side of the cabin to get their attention. "All set, when you're clear for departion go for it." The pilot and co-pilot both nodded and gave me thumbs up. I walked back as the engines roared just a little louder and the fuselage vibrated a little quicker. Finding my seat near the end of the ramp and strapping myself in. The ramp closed shut and for a moment the Pelican went dark as it began lifting into the air.

From the passenger cabin I could faintly hear the pilots on their radios talking with Naval Air Traffic Control. Something I should of probably mentioned earlier is the team designation. Hunter 1-1 was Team RWBY, Hunter 2-1 was Team JNPR, both were named that for efficiency's sake. Said teams were also losing their minds in the darkness of the Pelican. Yeah, I was using my helmets NVG's. The looks on their faces were priceless. A final word was spoken in the cockpit as the Pelican fired out of the Hangar like a bullet. The sudden G's rocked everyone's heads backed, the only facial expressions being seen on Hunter team. Turns out helmets don't convey all that much emotion. The shaking slowly decreased as the force of the Pelican left us. I could feel as the Pelican cut through the blizzard like a knife in butter that the shake and shudder lessened. A red light came to life, dimly and menacingly lighting the Pelican. The restrains came loose and we all fixed our sitting postures and positions, Hunter team looked downright flustered with everything happening. The one with light red hair, Pyrrha was is, probably had the most comedic one.

I racked the charging handle my BR55 and leaned forward in my seat, the blizzard and engine were far too loud for me to talk normally so I spoke over comms. "Alright, I know kids have a short attention span these days so here's a refresher." I gained laughs from my team and even some from the Spartans. Odd, Spartans never laugh? "The objective is to locate and extract our VIP, Jacques Schnee, from his mountain side home. Hunter 1-1 and 2-1 you're on rear security. Make sure no Grimm chew our asses out, we don't want to end up like the other teams sent down here." Jaune nodded respectfully and Ruby gave cute little 'you got it'. "My guys alongside Anvil are the entry teams. We may run into a few Covies on the outside but there's a high concentration within the mansion." We know what to do. Just gotta be quick about it. "Let's be fast here guys, extraction will only be grounded on the Northern helipads for maybe 2 minutes max. So once we have him I want Hunter to fall back with us so you don't get left behind. Got it?" The Spartans nodded and my team all gave thumbs up. Hunter on the other hand, all had lumps in their throats they needed to swallow. The whistling wind and snow outside became louder and louder as I felt the Pelican begin descending, the noise only becoming worse once the ramp began opening. Exposing us to the cold bitter mountains. "60 seconds off the deck, prepare to disembark." The once red light switched to a reassuring green. With what little I could see in the storm I was able to somewhat locate the mansion, it's bright lights and massive architecture making it easy to spot. Didn't help that it was also the middle of the fucking night. The Pelican hovered just a few feet off the ground, snow swirled and danced in the area around the engine. "Show time." I stood up and jumped off the ramp into the snow below. Landing on both feet and realizing that it was much deeper than expected, about up to my ankles, I regained my balance. The rest of the Task Force jumped out as well and all looked around, trying to gain some bearings. The Pelican began ascending into an orbit around us. So it was a gunship. "This is Rider 1-1, I'll be acting as close air support for the time being." At least the kids wouldn't be all on their own I suppose. "Acknowledged Rider."

I switched to thermals and tried to spot the target buildings heat signature, only able to see if faintly about 100 yards in front of us. He'd gotten us in real close. "I've got eyes on the target building, marking it on your HUD's…" It just came to mind that Hunter didn't have anything to actually see my marker. "Hunter, just keep up." We threaded through the snow for about 50 yards at a slow pace, making sure no one got lost. Because if you got lost up here, we'd be lucky to find your body. Even with all of the adaptive heat temperature mods in our suits, it was still fucking cold. What kinda guy builds a mansion up here, don't rich people put their houses on like beaches and shit. We were about 30 yards away from the mansions entrance when I suddenly dropped to the ground and held up a fist. Onyx and Anvil dropped immediately and took up a stable firing stance in the snow. Hunter was slower to react, which was costly because we now had it's attention. 'It' being a pair of sniper Jackals on the roof, posted on each corner.

In the snow I couldn't reliably hope to make a shot like that, even with my BR. "I need Sierra and one other marksman to crawl to me, I've got 2 targets." I prayed that the Spartans had a sniper with them, but when I looked back my heart dropped. They'd come prepared for close quarters, no sniper. That only left Ruby, who seemed hesitant to kill anything other than Grimm. Sierra slowly crawled to my left and brought up her sniper into a firing position. Ruby followed next and drew her rifle. I pointed to the Jackal on the right side, it's rifle in hand and head swiveling back and forth. It was hunting for us. Sierra already had her target. Ruby breathed a nervous sigh, "Why don't we just close the distance." At that moment I knew I for sure couldn't trust her to make this shot, I brought up my rifle and prepped to take it out should she miss. "Just do it." She took aim and I could hear her breathing slow. Both were ready to fire so I acted as a twin spotter. "Fire, fire, fire." On the 3rd word they both pulled the trigger, and both targets dropped dead. I patted Ruby on the back and brought myself up to a knee. "Not so hard is it." We transitioned into a standing position and made our way towards the entrance of this grandiose place.

"Hunter on guard duty, Anvil and Onyx stack for breach." I could already see groups of Covenant squads inside the mansion. The large doors were primarily composed of glass, with steel bars running through them in a checkered pattern. Jackals, Grunts, and 5 Elites occupied the wide entry square. The bright lights inside the building would blind them to us, not to mention the blizzard. "Matthews get a charge ready." As my team stacked up on the left side of the door and Anvil to the right, Matthews kneeled in front of it and began applying a demolition charge. All while lining a small frame around it with detcord. He gave me a thumbs up and took the rear man position. I waited for the squeeze on the back of my leg and a nod from Anvil's pointman. "Blow it."

Matthews came over comms and plainly stated the words "breaching." In much contrast was the explosion that followed. The detcord and demo charge blasted the gate open with ease. Leaving a thin cloud of smoke in the passageway and a few mangled corpses that stood a bit too close. Cooper was our pointman, he entered first and took aim at an Elite who was stumbling to his feet. His first shotgun blast knocked it off its feet. Giving the weapon a violent pump, Cooper fired one more time, blasting off half its face with it. Kerry was the second man in, instead of cutting immediately left like Cooper did her penetrated further into the room. Finding 2 Grunts shaking in terror, he fired a 3 round burst from his Ma5k at the first, ripping through it's skin. The 2nd Grunt went to raise it's plasma pistol only to be shot down as well. I on the other hand, was the 3rd man. Cutting right down the middle I was mopping up anyone left, which in this case was a Jackal bleeding to death. I hesitated, only for a moment. Making that split second decision to either let it suffer or end it. Given the situation I made the right choice, firing a single round through its skull and letting it fall limp on the floor. "Cear!" I shouted.

"Clear! Clear! Clear!" Each voice came from someone different. 2 of my guys and 1 Spartan. In front of us was a large staircase that partitioned off into 2 split overlooking balconies that lead into the archive, and assorted rooms. One both sides of the staircase were 2 massive knight armaments. Pulling up the schematic in my HUD I set a waypoint for the panic room. "Alright, we roll hard to the panic room. As long as he's still in there we can be a more liberal with shot placement. Let's go!" We followed the waypoint marker and took a sharp left down some long hallways lined with windows. I picked off 2 patrolling Jackals as we did so. As we pushed into a small ballroom we ran into a Grunt methane cache, in tow with Grunts. For obvious reasons. Most of them were too busy refueling to even notice us taking aim at them. By the time they even realized someone was in the room we'd popped all their skulls wide open. We kicked down the large gate-like doors that this placed love to install, and into the next room. "Should be right...Here." We walking into what looked like Jacques' personal study. In the middle of the room, beside a rolled over carpet was a trapdoor with a staircase leading downwards. I didn't like it, the thing was too small for my liking and even the lowest classes of the Covenant would be smart enough to have someone cover the small entrance. Not to mention our entrance wasn't exactly subtle.

That's when I spotted a breaker panel near the side of the room, this might be able to tip the scales just enough.

"Jones, get on that breaker panel. I need you to kill the lights down there." He simply nodded his head in reply and jogged over while he began fiddling with the switches, trying to find the right one. Seeing as we were closing in on the VIP I decided to signal in for extraction, the storm was worse than even we had anticipated it to be. It wouldn't be long until this entire building got blown away… Or buried. "Rider 1-1 this is Task Force actual, calling in for extraction." I stood there for a few seconds and shrugged my shoulders waiting for a reply. "Copy that actual, I've got Rider 1-2 on station, ETA 10 minutes."

Wait…

What…

"Rider 1-1 could you repeat. 10 minutes? The window was 5." Never mind the fact that a DIFFERENT Pelican was picking us up, waiting 10 minutes changed many things. "That's and A-firm actual… 10 minutes out." Well fucking great. Why does extract always have to be so difficult. I Pounded the flat part of my fist against my helmet in frustration. Okay, just gotta warn Hunter then.

"Hunter team, be advised extraction is 10 minutes out, I need you guys to slowly fall back to the mansion or you're getting left behind." Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. The comms fell silent for a moment as I held my breath with fear. "YUP… We can do tha- YANG WATCH OUT!... Could you're pilot buddy give us a hand. We've got a lot more coming in!" The sounds of different gunshots and slashing noises could be heard in the background of Ruby's mic.

Deciding not to leave them out to dry, I patched their frequency through to our CAS, Rider 1-1. Making sure to mention that they use their call signs when they radio in so he could ID them on the ground. With a polite thank you, Hunter got back to killing Grimm. That's when Jones cut through and the lights on the panic room stairs went out. "Got it." I nodded and told Cooper to take point, with me close behind. Our NVG's switched on and the room became as bright as day. Our footsteps were quiet, if not non-existent. As far as the Covenant were concerned, we weren't even there. We peeked around a corner to see a squad of Elite Spec Ops all spread out in front of the panic room door. I was surprised that their equipment didn't have some type of NV, because as we all slipped into the room our IR lasers collected on each of their heads. They scanned the room in utter darkness, some had an arm on the wall while others attempted to use their energy swords as illumination. Only blinding them further. As we gathered out targets I gave the word.

"Smoke 'em."

Cooper practically ran up and jammed his Shotgun into the face of one before blowing it clean off. Deruld fired a 5 round burst from his SAW and tore the chest of another to shreds. I just popped one of them in the dome, pretty underwhelming for me. All while one Spartan straight up tackled on of them and stuck a knife in it's eye, the other just grabbed the energy sword it had been using to see and stabbed it with it. Like I said, they were something else.

"Umm… Clear?" Martinez joked as he entered the room. I elbowed him in the stomach to which he chuckled in a wheeze of pain. I then looked at Jones and nodded. "Open it." What we'd failed to notice upon our entry were 6 dead Atlas guards around the bunker. Each with slash marks and plasma burns, poor bastards. Must've been terrified. Jones tapped away at the console for about 30 seconds as 2 Spartans began unhooking a drill-type machine that was attached to the door. "And open… Sesame." Jones slowly backed away from the console as we shouldered our weapons. The door split in 2 as one half raised and the other lowered. In the corner was the VIP, one Jacques Schnee, cowering helplessly. I mean he couldn't see anything so for all he knew we were about to kill him like his bodyguards. I told Martinez to grab him as our team began heading back up. The other 3 Spartans of Anvil team had been guarding the exit and securing our route to the helipads. We'd need 'em, this guy was a handful.

Already he was kicking and screaming, 'unhand me this' and 'foul monster that'. We brought him into the light of his office once we came up the stairs, which only seemed to make him more terrified as he saw the likes of a massive metal goliath, known as a Spartan. Sick of his shit I told Martinez to "Set him down." He let go of him and I placed both hands on Jacques' shoulders, and removed my helmet. Showing him I was human. "Sir, we're here to rescue you, but if you don't shut your mouth and let us work here… I'm gonna have to knock you out. Okay?" He sat there wide eyed in shock for a minute before nodding slowly. "Good, now stay behind me." I brought him up to his feet and practically held his hand.

Despite my frustration with our wait timer on extract… 10 minutes wasn't that long, it'd probably take us maybe 2 just to get to the helipads. That's assuming we take it slow and don't run into any trouble. "Diamond formation, we gotta get to those pads." We left his office and made our way down the lanky halls of the mansion and towards our way outta here. Already I could hear the footsteps of things that definitely aren't friendly. The sniffles of Grunts and the Jackal's barking out words in their language, and the all to familiar. _Wort wort wort_.

"Contact!" Anvil leader shouted from the front of the formation. Drawing my sidearm and positioning the VIP behind me I fired 2 shots down the hall towards the Covies rounding the corner. The Spartans, being the bullet magnets they were, got positioned in the front. While my guys covered our rear, and right in the middle would be me and Jacques. "On our 6!" Kerry shouted from behind me. Shit! This just got a whole lot worse. "Keep pushing we can't get pinned here!" Plasma zoomed by our heads and some got absorbed harmlessly into the Spartans shields. "Jax on your left." Came from the lead Spartan, the now named Jax, equipped with a CQB helmet rounded an intersecting corridor and blasted an Elite point blank. Splattering blood all over the very nice carpet beneath it.

As we pushed further down and into what appeared to be a dining area a sword Ultra rushed towards the Spartan on my right. "Simon on your right!" The newly named Simon, this one had an EVA helmet, unloaded a magazine from his AR into the Ultra which continued on it's path. Ducking under a sword strike and gutting the bastard with the butt-end of his rifle, only to bring it up into an uppercut, popping it's shield. He then drew his Magnum and fired a single round through it's head.

These guys were fucking good.

"Almost there keep moving!" We exited the dining hall and into a large open space, seemed like a prep-room of some sorts. Lined with tech equipment, flight suits, and headsets. As we passed through it and gunned down a few more enemies, a pair of familiar faces showed up. Hunter 1-1 and Hunter 1-2 sped around a corner firing behind themselves with reckless abandon. "Fuck move now!" That only meant one thing, company was on its way. We raced out the doors and onto the helipad, the snow now biting at us and shaking us like ragdolls. It'd really gotten worse. I set the VIP down behind a destroyed airship, it'd be the best cover we'd get out here. "Stay put." I pointed at him as I ran back towards my guys. We'd already set up defensive positions and had our weapons trained on the doors out here. I threw down an IR beacon and contacted our ride out. "Rider 1-2 I need immediate extract, we've kicked the hornet's nest and the place is coming apart!" I wasn't lying, the pads teetered and shook with the wind and I could already see some of the mansions foundation falling apart. I waited a minute only to get static in return. "No contact with Rider, hold positions." It was supposed to be a snatch and grab nothing more. "Well that's fucking gre-!" Martinez was cut off as a pair of Hunters, yes those types of Hunters, smashed through the door and began firing balls of green plasma at us.

"Open fire!" Deruld unloaded his SAW into them while Sierra was shooting ever crack in their armor. Matthews launched as many grenades at them as he could and it only seemed to slow them down. As the Hunters advanced relentlessly we began backing up closer and closer to the edge of the pads. A loud sound erupted through the mountain range as the Hunters looked behind them. A cease fire ensued as we all looked for the source. The Hunters lost all focus on us and began firing back at the door and falling back. The hell? Hunters never retreated.

A horde of Grimm, mainly Beowulf's bursted from the entry way and simply ran over the Hunters with their sheer numbers. With a new threat in front of us we began slinging as much lead as possible. Hunter 1-2 stayed behind and layed down quite a lot of fire, especially with that giant ass grenade launcher. Problem was that Nora's weapon may bring the whole mountain down. Hunter 1-1 charged forward and began slicing through the horde as quickly as possible. With them in our crosshairs we pushed further up for clearer shots. Didn't matter though they just kept coming. As my team began running lower and lower on rounds I realized that we wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Not to mention all the action was causing the pad to tip further and further to its side.

That's when a winged savior erupted from the storm.

Rider 1-1 flew straight by and circled into a hover above the helipads. As I saw the guns spin up on it's nose cannon I knew that RWBY would be torn to shreds, he probably didn't even see them in the middle of all that. "Hit the deck!" Hoping to god that they wouldn't question this one order and just do it, I dove to the ground. The guns ripped through the oncoming horde and pushed them back all the way to the end of the bridge connecting us. To bad they just kept fucking coming. That's when a second Pelican swooped in low and hovered over the edge of the heli-pad. Time to fucking leave. "Everyone onboard NOW, Martinez you've got the VIP." he ran over and grabbed Jacques as I slowly back up and made sure everyone was getting in. I looked over as Rider 1-1's cannons roared in the mountain range. VIP was secured and my team had loaded up. Behind them was Hunter, and finally was Anvil. Okay, we're good. All the team members boarded up as I made my way to the ramp. At least I was gonna, until a sudden and violent shaking knocked me off my feet. I tried to bring myself up only to be knocked down again and slipping to the side.

Oh fuck.

The pad had finally had enough as it began tipping entirely.

I could hear the metal beams and cables whine and crack as they failed to hold everything together.

I somehow found my way to my feet and ran to the Pelican.

The Pelican began veering away slightly as not to be taken down with the pad.

I ran

And ran

All the way to the edge.

The platform was almost completely tipped over.

The co-pilot alongside a Spartan stood at the edge of the ramp ushering me towards it.

As I reached the edge I jumped for dear life into the arms of my comrades.

… Falling just short of the ramp.

My hands gripped the side of it as tightly as possible, they both dived to grab me but the wind was too strong and I lost my grip.

My arms came loose and I felt the all too familiar pull of gravity on my body.

I fell.

…

…

…

In what I could only assume were my final moments I saw the light of the engines fade in the distance.

Mere seconds away from impact and the gates of hell. The only thought I could conjure up was…

Everyone made it out.

 **Please leave a review as I'd love to see what you thought of this chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed the small little detour of my upload schedule, the feedback was just too positive for me to keep you waiting.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 8 Taking Command

Chapter 8

Taking Command

The light hum of the engine was all that could be heard in the Pelican.

No one was crying, or shouting, or freaking out. Just silence.

As much as people would leave you to believe there's a no man left behind policy in the UNSC. Couldn't be farther from the truth, rarely did we ever go back for a man. Especially on high-risk op's like this one. We'd keep moving on though, we'd keep fighting our war. I just hope it was worth it.

A tap on the shoulder brought me out of my thoughts, it was Matthews. "Hey 'Coop, did we do it right?" The question caught me off guard slightly. "What 'ya mean?" he simply removed his helmet and looked towards the ground. Seemingly in shame. "Did we do the mission right, what did we do wrong? Should I of not used as many explosives on the bridge, maybe the platform wouldn't of came down and th-" I cut him off there. I know where this led. I was former ONI security afterall, we lost people all the time.

"Don't do that man, it happened, there's nothing you can do about it. Just focus on the next mission." Maybe it wasn't the best thing to say, but whatever was the right thing… I just couldn't find it. Didn't take long for the Pelican to find its way back to the ship, we all loaded out and I dragged the VIP to the briefing room. I told the rest of the team to go get some rest as I'd handle the debrief. When I practically threw Jacques at Commander Hernandez he looked up with confusion. "Reeves' is injured I suppose, guess it had to happen sometime." He smiled weakly. I just shook my head in return. He got the message.

"Well then… First Sergeant Cooper, looks like Onyx is yours. You're dismissed, I can handle negotiations from here. Be ready though, we have another assignment for tomorrow already planned." I nodded and made my way down the stairs and towards the door. "And… For what it's worth, I am sorry." I looked back, holding my face in a neutral smile. Nodding before leaving the room.

I made my way to the showers, deciding to maybe relax a bit. Removing my armor and BDU I made my way inside and turned the tap. My skin was still stiff and cold to the touch, the hot water poured across it. A soothing sense rushed across my nerves as my shoulders and muscles relaxed. Using this time to plan out what to do next, I placed both arms against the wall and leaned forward. Letting the water run across my back.

What could I do next? Reeves always seemed one step ahead. Always a few seconds in front of all of us. Nobody ever knew how he did it, in fact to the groups that did know him, he was more myth than legend. Few Marines can have that much impact, usually Spartans are reserved for that. Nobody knew where he came from, he simply was in the corps one day and has been ever since. He actually tried to walk out at one point but found his way back in, from what little he told me, he's been fighting since he was a kid. That's about it, he just never talked about his past, he did his job. Complete the mission and get his men back home, I guess there's not much of a fitting end to him than that. Maybe he'd find a way to survive?...

Who was I kidding, this wasn't a movie. People don't just come back, this is the real world, when you're dead. You're dead. I had to pick up the tab now, and lead my brothers through this campaign. I'll give everyone about 3 hours to recover, then I'll call them up to the bunks. If we did have a mission tomorrow they needed to be ready for it… Mentally. Reeves wouldn't of picked us if we were weak though, we'd get through it. I turned off the shower and dried myself off with a towel, before donning my BDU and hauling my armor back to the bunks. The nice thing about UNSC ships, each one came with a nice stack of fresh clothes that were ripe for stealing. Technically, that wasn't allowed, but most wouldn't care.

I walked in the door and found the barracks completely barren of any Marines, good. Slipping off my dirty clothes and slipping on a clean combat shirt and pants. For the time being I'd inform Major Grant about what happened and have the proper clearance codes transferred to me. I'd need access to rosters, any documents pertaining to the Company, all that shit. It'd take time though, so I simply found a bed to sleep on and laid there. Bunks weren't exactly comfortable, but after being away from one for so long, it felt like heaven. It didn't take long for my mind to drift and my thoughts to wander. It always came back to the same thing though.

Reeves was gone.

Nothing could change that.

Our leader.

Our founder.

The very heart of this division.

Gone.

…

…

…

 _"Matthews, Deruld, Cooper, I need you moving to Flint team to assist. Buy time for Matthews to arm the guns they were assigned. You've got 1:45 left HAUL IT!" Reeves shouted over comms_

 _We didn't respond. Just sent an 'acknowledged' message on the HUD._

 _I loaded a fresh slug into my shotgun and took point along the wall. Our team had been inserted at the base of a mountain to assault a Covenant stronghold half-way up. Whatever they were here for, they had to dig into the rock to find it._

 _We were tasked with destroying a final sentry gun along a long wall separating us from the excavation site. Deruld and I would cover Mathews as he armed the charges. We moved swiftly along the wall. Flint team, a squad of ODST's, was pinned by a pair of Hunters a Grunts with fuel rods. "Deruld, cover Kerry I'm going in!" He did as he said and I slid down the slope of the snow and into the fray. As the Hunters seemed occupied with the ODST's I flanked from behind and got real close 'n' personal with the first one I saw. Planting a grenade from Matthews inside it's back and running around it I made my way to the second. The first Hunter swung its shield arm around only to swipe air, by the time it realized I'd moved on it was already nothing but a puddle of orange goo on the snow._

 _I blasted 2 rounds into the back of the final Hunter and hoped to god it would be stupid enough to turn around. Lucky enough, it was. The behemoth shot around and began advancing towards me and charging its weapon. As it turned around, Flint team was given clear shots on it's back. Unloading every round it had into it, the Hunter was now forced to split its attention. It swapped back and forth between the 2 threats in had, using its confusion, I closed the distance and began landing more slugs onto it's exposed area. Seeing me as the biggest threat at hand, the Hunter charged forward and I quickly dove to my, with every gun pointed at its back we opened a hailstorm of bullets. The volley was quick and decisive, the Hunter writhed in pain only for a second before hitting the snow with a massive thud._

 _I rose too my feet and looked up to where Mathews was setting up the last explosive, at least I was, until the gun went up in flames and knocked me on my ass. A piece of debris flew into the air and began falling over me. The flaming wreck burning in the sky and aimed right for my face._

I rose from my bunk with a shock. I remembered that place, it was the same place we'd gone too before the whole portal problem. Before Reeves wa-. I stopped my thoughts short there. I slid off the mattress and checked the time, I'd slept for roughly 2 and a half hours. Figuring it was time to summon the team I used my TACPAD to signal them all to the bunks I was in. I'd try and keep this short.

It wouldn't be long until they arrived, each on entered one by one and seemingly dragged themselves to their seats. This isn't right. We're soldiers, death is normal. Guess it just always seemed like nothing could kill him. "I-I'll keep this quick. The Commander has assigned us to another mission tomorrow, from what I assume it'll probably be closer to the city of Atlas. I've heard that the Covenant have done a number on it, but they've been holding out alone better than expected." They all nodded, but clear and present danger was felt in the room. No one wanted to do this. "We'll be the first UNSC responders to the attack." I seemingly closed off.

Martinez was the first to stand up, and then the rest. I wasn't done talking yet, normally he'd half to tell us to leave to get us to move. I suppose I hadn't earned that respect yet. "Wait… Despite the Commander clearing us for duty the decision still comes down to me." They all turned around and looked at me all confused. Martinez spoke up. "The hell does that mean." Maybe he was feeling angry rather than desolate. At least he still had that energetic spark in him. "It means that if I deem us unfit for combat I can cancel the mission and task another team to handle it." Their eyes widened at the thought. "So I need to ask all of you… Do you want to do this?" The question was simple but carried tremendous weight.

I couldn't stop them even if I wanted to. This was their choice, not mine.

"I need to shoot shit!" Came from the quiet Deruld of all people. What followed was the most uplifting thing I'd seen in a long while. Each member of Onyx stood infront of me in a perfect line. Standing at attention. Sierra spoke up, "We're ready sir…" This was my team. One I would have to command and protect with every decision I made. I knew I was up to the task now. "Alright then Onyx, meet in the armory at 0530 tomorrow. We'll show those bastards who they're messing with…" At that each nodded and left the room, me included. As we exited every single one of us had the face of that of a murderer. I may of excited them too much.

At the same time Team RWBY and JNPR passed by with genuine faces of terror. As the shock wore off they approached me shyly, I knew where this was going. Surprisingly though, Jaune stepped forward. "Uh… Cooper was it?" I just nodded in return, my hulking form overlooking all of them. "L-Look, we just wanted to give you our regards about… W-Well about Reeves. We know that you are-were his team, and just wanted to say we're sorry about what happened." The one they called Blake then walked forward and placed her hand on my shoulder, seemingly as a way to express her condolences.

"Thank you, all of you, it does mean a lot. It truly does, but my team has to get ready for a mission tomorrow." They all seemed to recoil back at that in disbelief. "W-What, already!? Aren't they going to let you guys mourn at least?" It was… Pyrrha, I think the name was. I guess he wasn't kidding when he said these kids just weren't ready for the concept of war. "It's war... " I chuckled sadly. The thought about truly mourning him hadn't crossed my mind." To be honest, mourning any of my friends was never a thought. "'Ya know, back when I was working with ONI security, you don't know them but that's fine, I lost a lot of people." I paused and bit my lip. I'd repressed these memories for a while. "People I cared about… If we were lucky we might be able to construct a crude grave out of rocks and stones." They looked at each other in sympathy and shock. "We'd plant their weapon onto the grave and their helmet on top of it. Then we'd just move on like nothing happened… I hope you kids never have to do that." I began walking past them when Ruby bursted out. "What are you gonna do now!?"

I stopped dead in my tracks for only a moment to reply. Still looking forward, what was i gonna do? I guess the only thing I could do. "I'm gonna do what I do best… And kill some fuckin' bad guys." I then walked forward to the armory.

Despite my claim that the mission was 'tomorrow' it actually was fairly close. We'd arrived on ship at roughly 0030. Leaving only a small window to actually rest. With my 3 hour power nap that window was sliced in half to 2 hours. I made my way to the armory and decided against grabbing any food, time was something I shouldn't be sparing. I had dragged along my set of dirty and chiseled armor, only really bringing it so I could load up and get my gear on at the same time. The choice was a good one as I had my loadout ready in less than 5 minutes. I'd attached a hardened external network and uplink module to the side of my helmet. It'd make it easier to access the UNSC battlenet now.

I checked over my weapons and began grabbing anything I'd need. As the team leader I would have to change a few things now. I'd still be needed for CQC, but with a rifleman now missing a bridge needed to be made. Locking my shotgun in place on my back I reached for a Battle Rifle on the top rack. With the change of weapon came a change of gear. My chest plate had been outfitted with SMG pouches and a shotgun bandolier attached to it. I began removing the old SMG pouches and replacing them with open top ones instead. Every Marine is trained as a rifleman, that has always been true, but to say that I wasn't rusty would be an understatement. Only time I held a proper rifle since I joined the ONI Security Force was maybe 7 years ago, even since then I'd only ever taken one up when a mission called for it.

Best get learning then. Taking my new weapon and bringing it to the decently sized firing range inside the armory I hit the buzzer and the targets shot to life. They began zipping around the range on rails in almost every direction and at different distances. Breaking and turning violently at sharp angles. Relaxing myself and bringing the rifle up to my cheek I took aim down range.

My eyes shifted to the nearest target, juking back and forth in random patterns. Steadying my breath I took aim and fired a 3 shots at it, only 1 landed. The target jerked left causing my first 2 rounds to sail past it and the final to nail it's shoulder. I continued on like this for nearly 10 minutes. My aim never seeming to improve all that much, guess it's been awhile. I shut off the targets and cleared the rifle and stowed it on my kit with a sling.

It was nearly time for the mission, as if on queue the rest of Onyx entered the room. Automatically moving to where they needed to be, Martinez and Sierra both set their rifles out along a table and began inspecting it. Kerry was re-arranging his medical bag, making sure every shot of morphine and every bandage was in place. I had already retrieved everything I'd need, so I figured I'd take the time to address the group. "Pack heavy, plenty of rations and supplies, we'll most likely be down there awhile couped up in some building for god knows how long." All things considered I'd imagine this maybe being a 2 week op, but with those Corvettes practically wiping out everything except Atlas at this point they only had one target left. Command was just buying time for them to grab whatever they came here for then bail.

Matthews packed a large bag of explosives that could probably blow a hole in the side of this Frigate if mishandled. All while Deruld stood at the door, simply twisting the drum mag on his SAW. I checked my watch and saw we had less than an hour to be in the hangar. "Alright wrap it up Onyx, we're already running late!" They all began scrambling around the room in a way that reminded me of drones flying around a hive. Controlled chaos as they called it. Before we knew it we were out the door and entering the hangars, the Commander standing down on the flight deck alongside other crewman. We walked down and spread out with 8 minutes left to spare. I shook his hand and respectfully nodded, that was about as formal as it got around here. "First Sergeant, glad to see you made it." I looked back and stretched my shoulders a bit. "Likewise sir."

"I'll keep this quick, our fleet's done the best it can to keep their ships out of Atlas, even Ironwoods forces have done a pretty good job holding the line. However, as of 0900 hours, about the same time you secured VIP 'Enigma', they broke through our blockade and began deploying into the city. First responders are already grounded…" I felt a 'but' coming from this. "But they've already taken half the city within a few hours and decimated majority of our Ground Forces. Heavy civilian casualties have been projected." Made sense but I had some questions. "Okay, how's my team come into this?" He scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh. "Covenant forces have deployed a jammer near the center of the city. Due to the nature of the op we'd usually send ODST's and just drop them behind enemy lines." Why was it always like this, why did we have to constantly pick up after others. "Our ships have been getting hammered anytime they get close, as long as that jammers active our guidance systems, communications, and tactical dominance in the region have been nullified."

I nodded my head slowly, I was starting to see the bigger picture now. "So you need my team down there to disable the jammer then start designating targets for strikes and guiding forces through the city for a counter-attack?" He smiled sheepishly before replying. "Basically…" I gave a thumbs up and rallied the team up. The Pelican dropped it's ramp and we boarded quickly. The storm had died down leaving the white snow hung out across the landscape like a blanket. The white texture reflecting the sun and blinding anyone without a visor on. I looked down at the commander one last time before the Pelican began its takeoff sequence. "Transfer all of the mission data to my TACPAD will 'ya." He simply nodded again and walked away. I'd have to brief the team on the way there.

The Pelican began rumbling as it raised above the flight deck, it's engines blasting like a siren. A single moment hung in the air before it shot out of the hangar like a bullet. We shot back in our chairs for a few seconds at the most before it stabilized. "Yo 'Coop, what's the mission?" The question came from our resident gangster, Deruld, he and I always did get along. Not to mention that killer instinct he grew up around in the 'hood'. I stood up from my seat and pumped my shotty before attaching it to my back again. "The usual, destroy some shit then make sure our ground pounders don't get killed." I let out a sign, the job never got old but was always the same.

"Yeah but like the actual objective dude?" Martinez chipped in, I shot him a smirking glare afterwards. "There's a jammer near the center of the city, ODST's haven't done shit so we're gonna have to destroy it." I reached up into the upper storage compartments and began pulling out any extra supplies they kept on these birds. "Then… We'll be coordinating air support and ground forces." Sierra stood up and walked up next to me and looked at what I was doing. That being, stowing extra medical supplies in my bag for Kerry. "Uh… Cooper, if ODST's can't drop down to do it what chances are of this bird actually landing?" Pretty good question in all honesty.

"Yeah that's the thing, ain't no way in hell this bird is touching the ground in one piece. In all honesty I think Command just sent us down expecting us to crash. So grab your things this is gonna get...Bumpy." They all exchanged a look of clear confusion for a moment before getting the point. They all stood up and began grabbing as many supplies from the Pelicans onboard compartments and making sure their rucksacks were all in order. Once everyone had their gear in check I figured it'd be a good time to get them ready. "Get all your straps on and makes sure your bags are tied down, we're about to enter the cities airspace."

We found our chairs and pulled the restraints over ourselves quickly. It wasn't long before the plasma fire came in, and the pilots started screaming at each other from the cockpit. Loud enough we could hear them of course. "FUCK EVADE EVADE, THEY'VE GOT SHADE'S ALL UP IN THE BUILDINGS!" The Pelican then took a sudden descent towards the streets of the metropolis below. "WE'RE TAKING HER BELOW THE BUILDIN-FUCK RIGHT SIDE!" The Pelican rocked to its left from the force of the hit. Causing the side to catch the corner of a building, only furthering the chaos. "I'm losing her!" The pilot grunted on comms. "BRACE!" Was the last thing I heard before the lights inside the Pelican went out and we jumbled around in our seats like maracas.

Light crept in from the small window in the Pelicans back, allowing us to see what was going on. Distinct plasma and even some gunfire could be heard muffled in the distance. When we finally got out bearings we realized that our arms were dangling from our seats and the bird was upside down. "Alright everyone, time to disembark." As much as I tried to stay focused I couldn't help but feel that this was eerily similar to our entrance in Vale.

We loosened the restraints and began grabbing our gear. "Jones check the pilots!" To be honest it was more of a courtesy to the dead than anything. Pilots seldom survived this type of cra-"We got a live one!" Fuck, this just got a whole lot complicated. "Kerry check his conditions, everyone else on me." I was sorta hoping they'd be dead, we wouldn't have to drag them around through the city, guess not everything can be perfect. However perfect this situation was to begin with.

"Alright, Onyx we'll set a perimeter around the crash site until Kerry and Jones can pull the pilot from the wreckage and off the street." I looked around and saw their faces, they didn't like the plan. We'd be boxed in from the word go, at a time like this Reeves would have a way better pl-STOP! Focus on the mission. "Yeah… I don't like it all that much either but it's the only plan we got." I sighed and loaded a fresh mag into my BR before pushing open the Pelican's tailgate. "Martinez and Sierra will handle the roofs, we'll take care of the rest." By now Kerry and Jones had the pilot's arms slung over their shoulders. "Okay...Go!"

I slammed my shoulder into the tailgate and brought it down immediately with a thundering screech of metal. Almost immediately we were met with fire, as we spread out and began shooting at anything that so much as moved I guided Kerry and Jones with the wounded pilot off the street. "There 'ya go, right there!" They set him down in a dust shop on the corner of the road. Kerry began medical procedures instantly while Jones ran out to support. "Now might be a good time to get our asses inside too boss!" A shot grazed my shoulder and caused my upper body to twist with the hit. "Negative, we fall back into a tight perimeter they'll just surround us!" At least I thought they would. He always made it look so eas-FUCKING STOP.

Jones ran up to the broken wing I was taking cover behind and shot a Jackal of it's perch in the process. Not bad for a nerd. "What's his status?" I made a head nod to the pilot. "Leg's broken and he's bleeding from the head and mouth!" I jolted my body in a 'shit' motion. We did NOT have time for this. "Kerry, get hims stabilized then we're on the move!" I brought my hand down from the side of my helmet, deactivating my push-to-talk. Kerry then looked up from his patient and through all the smoke and ruble, stared at me. "I've almost got it, just buy me like… One more minute at the most!" I nodded in return. I then brought my rifle up and took aim at a few Grunts approaching from the West. Taking a second to steady my aim, the adrenaline still running in my veins, I fired. The 2 bursts I popped off hit their targets in the chest, knocking them off their feet and killing them immediately. I pivoted over my right foot and shot at 2 shield Jackals that were brave enough to step outside. "Cooper it's a fucking prairie fire out here we need to move!" I gave a desperate look to Kerry, hoping for an answer.

He looked back at me and shook his head in frustration before responding. "FUCK IT, HE'S STABLE!" Now we could start hauling ass. "Jones, get to the pilot. Everyone else needs to start moving East towards the-!" Was the last words I got out before concussion round landed nearby and knocked me on my ass. "GO GO GO!" I made a hand wave down the street. As we ran down the road, abandoned cars and Atlas military fortifications lie barren all throughout the city. Plasma streamed from building windows, we'd have no realistic chance to find each one of the shooters.

We neared an intersection and halted in our tracks, an Atlas mech ripped backwards from the corner. Soldiers alongside it were firing backwards with reckless abandon, a heavy flow of enemy fire cutting down a few of them. We'd gotten out of range of the Covenant in the building and sprung into action. I slid into a kneeling position on the corner of the street, pressing my body as close to the white walls as possible. The team followed suit and we started dropping the Covenant chasing them. It wasn't long until their Ultra went down with a satisfying clang of metal.

I ran up to the soldier who looked to be in charge, a platoon commander most likely. "I need a sitrep regarding enemy force strength and possible routes to the ENMAX building?" He hunched over and held his hands to his knees. "Who… The hell… Are you?" I grabbed him with both hands, my hulking form dominating over his. "Friendlies sir, just give us a route to the ENMAX building." He looked me up and down and noticed the foreign equipment. "Head south, just past that giant ass theater down the road. Can't miss it." I nodded my head towards him respectively as he did the same.

I gave the hand signal for my team to move down the street, it's also worth noting that we'd given the pilot up to their medic who'd be able to take care of him a hell of a lot better than we could right now. "HEY!" I turned around sharply to face the officer in charge. "Before our comms went dark all Atlas forces were given the order to evacuate the city, from what I know we're one of the last." He paused and looked at the ground for a second. "You go in there, ain't noone gonna come 'fer 'ya. " I slung my rifle up and reached for my shotgun. "We know sir, get your men out of here" He then bit his lip one last time to reply. " 'Ya know we heard rumour about you guys, if your even half as good as they say we may have a chance…" Enough talk, I gave a curt nod and a simple 'thank you' before rushing off down the street.

We made our way down as far as we could before running into a massive pile of ruble from a collapsed building blocking our path to the jammer. I could've sworn I heard humming in the distance. "Alright Onyx get climb-" As we made our closer 2 Wraiths appeared over the side alongside a Phantom, and they weren't slowing down. The Phantom began firing its main cannon at us all while the Wraith's gunners unloaded their plasma turrets at our heads. "OFF, OFF THE STREET!" A Hotel was to our left and we began rushing into the main lobby. Sliding over car hoods, jumping through the Hotel's windows, and slamming into the lobby doors. "Keep moving!" I shouted at all of them as we entered.

We ran down through the eating area and past the kitchen, a small courtyard was located in the rear of the building leading onto another street. At least it did until more Covenant began rushing down that very same street, completely intent on killing as many humans as possible. My mind wandered to those Atlas troops we ran into, nothing we could do for them now. "Cut right, down the hall." I hissed out. They hadn't spotted us yet, good. We all sprinted down the carpeted hall of the luxurious hotel, dead bodies of its inhabitants still laying in place. Their blood staining the walls.

We rounded a final corner leading off to the pool, we'd jump the fence and make our way to the ENMAX building from there. Turns out the we'd be jumping nothing at all, as that entire section of the building was missing and left with nothing but ruble. "We're running out of time move it!" We'd have to cross the street to get there. Which meant traversing through lots of bad guys.

"Wait…" We crouched at the hole in the Hotel and attempted to stay out of sight. "On my mark." 3 Wraiths, A Revenant, and more troop transports than I could count passed by. Once the last one moved past the frame of the building and I waited a few seconds for any stragglers. "Okay… GO!" We sprinted out of the building as my heart began mimicking that of a school drumline. As we moved within throwing distance of the towers doors I could feel time slow down.

That's when it all popped off.

A single needle round flew by my head and impacted against the windows beside me. My gut instinctively wanted my to turn and open fire but I knew better than to stop moving. As I reached the twin set of doors I slid into cover and then decided now would be a good time to return fire. "GET INSIDE GO!" It wasn't long until the eventual garden hose of plasma and needle rounds began raining down upon us. Either from the streets among us or the broken buildings above, there was no safety outside. "Deruld, Jones, you're on rear security. Watch our backs!" I pointed then to our sniper, spotter, duo. "You two, get to one of the higher levels and start picking off targets." That left Kerry and Matthews to complete the mission with me.

"C'mon those Atlas forces won't last long!" We rushed towards the nearest stairwell and began ascending to the rood where the jammer was. Logically I was on point with Matthews behind me and Kerry on the rear. With the team split up there was no way to tell what was going on, that jammer made it impossible for even our local comms to get through. Good old outdoors voice would work though.

As the sound of our boots hitting the cement steps quickened we reached the top floor. We set up a split stack on the door and I pinned my shotguns barrel against it. We gave the signature nod to go and I pulled the trigger. The doo was blasted of its hinges and flew outwards. As we pushed out to the roof we noticed 2 sub - levels. The level we were on which was below the jammer, and another above us.

Despite all the commotion we'd made our entrance caught them off guard. A single elite turned back, confused at all the noise, it wasn't long before a face full of buckshot greeted him. We began spreading out over the roof and taking cover behind crates, set up tables, and even vents. We inched closer and closer to the jammer each moment, I popped out of cover and blasted an Ultra once, nearly breaking its shields. I moved up and fired another blast, this time breaking it and causing the beast to recoil in pain. Using this moment I dug my shoulder into its gut and began pushing it backwards.

As I did so, it's comrades desperately tried to kill me. I killed them first. Every shot that was intended for me only sunk into the Elites thick body before it died soon after. As its body fell and I was given a clear line of sight on the remaining enemies. A pair of Grunts stood in absolute horror before me, continuing my advance I blasted the first one off its feet and then slammed my buttstock into the others skull. Its soft head cracking wide against the blunt force, its blue fluorescent blood splattering against my body armor.

I brought my head up only to see a Jackal with its needle rifle aimed straight at me. With no cover in sight I prepared for the all too familiar sting of a needle in my gut. Only for a single shot to ring out and the Jackal drop from its perch lifeless. I looked around and saw the smoking barrel of Kerry's rifle. Good shot. "Thanks man, now lets rig this thing and go home." He did as asked and began planting demo charges at it's base.

We got to a safe distance and he hit the detonator.

The jammer was completely blown off its platform and fell harmlessly to the streets below. Most likely crushing some poor son of a bitch. At that moment a long static filled the airwaves until communications came online. "Tiger do you read this is Onyx Actual, jammer is dust. How copy?" The response was immediate and precise. "Loud and clear Onyx, we are beginning UNSC insertion and strikes on Atlas… Good work." At that very moment from the clouds a pair of Frigates alongside a Halcyon broke into the cities airspace. Alongside a plethora of other UNSC ships, we'd actually gotten more Naval support!?

As the Fleet placed themselves at a low-altitude above the city I walked up to Kerry, handing him a pair of binoculars. "We're at one of the highest points of the city, use this and paint a target for our flying friends." He smiled mischievously, for reasons that didn't need to be explained. "Tiger we're designating targets now, roll the thunder!" Never got old, seeing the bombers and fighters pour out of UNSC ships like bees from a hive was always satisfying. They flew overhead and instantly locked onto our targets, strafing runs, airstrikes, and plenty of Naval artillery. Wouldn't be long until our boots hit the ground.

That's when my team's comms broke through. "'COOP WE GOT A SITUATION HERE!" Heavy gunfire could be heard in the background. I brought my hand up to my helmet as worry filled my voice. "What! What's happening!?"

"It's Jones… He's down!"

…

…

…

Oh shit.

 **Wow this was a long one. I haven't abandoned this story, just decided to show my other one some love for awhile. After 9 chapters and hitting over 5,000 views only one word stands out, UNBELIEVABLE. I started this project as a small "what if" scenario from my other story.**

 **Next thing I know it EXPLODES out of control.**

 **I'd also like to take this time to recognize one of my most avid readers VGBlackwing. He has been a constant support and was even the inspiration for the Goliath appearing in Chapter 7. I cannot thank him and you guys enough for your support and loyalty to my story.**

 **I would also like to take this time to ask upon all of you leave PLENTY OF QUESTIONS as the next chapter will be a short Q &A to keep in touch with all of you.**

 **As always please leave a review as I enjoy all kinds of feedback.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 9 Survival and Sabotage

Chapter 9

Survival and Sabotage

"I need everyone on the roof ASAP! Get Jones's ass up here quickly." I ran to Kerry and firmly grabbed his shoulder. Spinning him around from his perch, he seemed drawn in. I then swept the binoculars out of his hands and pointed at him. "I need you ready to treat a patient, Jones got hit badly. Make. Sure. He. Lives." I then ran to Matthews who was loosely shooting at targets down below. I slammed the binoculars into his hands and looked him dead in the helmet. "You. Targets. NOW!" He got the message.

"Fuck Cooper we've got bad guys flooding the building. Me and Sierra are falling back to the roof with Deruld!" Martinez was screaming over comms. I could hear the frantic footsteps and panting over the radio. Rushing over to the edge of the building I contacted command. "Tiger we've completed our fucking objective where the hell is our ride 'outta here!" I looked down and saw a seemingly endless horde of Covenant swarming the streets. Our roof acting as a lone island in a sea of enemies.

"We've got a Falcon enroute to your location First Sergeant, but local AA's been fuckin' everyones day up so far." The thick southern accent that I was so accustomed to seemed monotone at that moment. "Copy Tiger, just get us a ride!" I stepped back from the edge of the roof and looked back to see the rest of my team. Jones had been placed on a makeshift table as Kerry began working on him, a Brute spike was sticking out of his chest. Martinez and Sierra both fired round after round precisely down the building into the crowds below. Leaving only Deruld, his LMG in hand, covering the only entrance up here.

Mind you, Deruld was firing a lot of bullets at the door. Wouldn't be long until he'd need to reload. Figuring that I could help out I placed myself behind him, he knew the formation. He'd crouch down when he was out of ammo and reload while I took the door. The first few silhouettes appeared in its frames only to be speared through the chest by his bursts. "Onyx actual, Falcon is 3 mikes off the deck." Good, we can make that work. "I'm dry!" Deruld pivoted on his left foot out of the line of fire and leaving me to pick up. I crouched forward and began popping as many heads as I could through the door.

"He's stable!" I heard over comms. Kerry had been able to stop the bleeding by removing the spike and injecting an unhealthy amount of biofoam. I stayed focused on the door however. Another figure ran through, I squeezed the trigger and a 3-round burst shot forward. The rounds slammed into its chest, causing whatever it was to fall forward. Only for a massive fucking ape to slam into the ground through the doorway. The 3 bullet holes had struck it right in the chest, staining it's fur with blood.

I continued firing until the all too familiar click of my rifle rang out in my ear. "Loading new mag!" I pivoted out of the way and behind Deruld, who was happy to begin ring once again. My eyes wandered to the skies and that's when I saw it. The Falcon was flying in at a high altitude, low angle. Meaning it was basically planning on swooping in for a drive-by pickup. Whoever was flying that thing was ballsy as all hell. I reached into my kit and pulled out a purple smoke grenade. Popping it and shaking it violently before tossing it up near the pile of rubble that the jammer once stood at.

The Falcon seemingly got the message and began swooping in for a pickup. "Everyone get ready!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My gravely voice overcoming the gunfire. Kerry and Martinez both grabbed Jones and began bringing him up near the LZ, and as it began flying in we could see lines of plasma from the streets below begin shooting up towards it.

Within less than 30 seconds the Falcon swept through the fire and landed on the roof quickly, the pilot gesturing for us as we began moving. The two side gunners began shooting at anything that so much as breathed at them. Our heads stayed low and we sprinted towards the Falcon under the wind of the blades in hunched over postures. I kicked one leg onto the edge of the chopper and began scanning the roof for anything the gunner failed to mop up.

As my team finally loaded up I climbed aboard and found a seat, strapping myself in and holding the edge of the seat for dear life. The aircraft then shot upwards and a sharp angle into the skies, plenty of enemy fire to be left as well. As the pilot began bringing us out of small arms distance I tabbed into comms. "Tiger I need to you to begin a strike on purple smoke, disregard all other designated targets until done so. Priority one!" I waited a moment, staring at the UNSC _Tiger_ , the nearest UNSC vessel. The only thing being heard was that of the Falcons engines and blades, at least, for about 30 seconds.

Abruptly an archer missile pod was fired out in a single salvo. That may not sound like much, but considering that a single pod carries 30 missiles… it did the job.

Within seconds the once lumbering tower was reduced to practical ash. Alongside any other son of a bitch caught within a stones throw of it.

"Cooper, I hate to break in un-announced but your teams being reassigned to a different in the city." The fuck!? When did the major get here. "Major, mind telling me what the hell is going on!?" My team just got their asses pulled out of very hot fire and now he wanted us sent back in. I had maybe 2 mags left at best. That's counting the loaded one right now.

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do. You're pilots been instructed to circle around and land at an FOB being set up at the edge of the city. Meet me there, I'll be your handler from here on." Well, this just got a whole lot better didn't it.

 **6 Hours Earlier**

The bitter cold stung every part of my body, I attempted to move my limbs to no avail. The only thing going through my head was a mantra of the SERE acronym.

Survive.

I summoned as much willpower as I could from the depths of my soul and pushed myself out of that snow and onto my feet.

Evade.

I looked up to spot the Pelican, only for a dining table to come rushing down like a missle. Making a quick dash to my right and slamming my body against the hard rock of the Mountain. The rest of the mansion fell with it and passed me by.

Resist.

As I gained my balance the Stalwart winds of _Devils Pass_ attempted to knock me over. Planting my feet in the ground I withstood the assault.

Escape.

I shot my eyes around the area, a thick blanket of snow and a whirling storm of ice blinding any possible route off the mountain.

It was around this moment I realized my helmet was shattered. The protruding front of the Gungnir helmet was cracked and chipped away beyond repair. Letting my body relax a bit I leaned against the cliff face and removed it. I flipped it over and examined for only a moment, nothing but a bucket at this point, and a bad one at that.

Seeing no reason in keeping the piece of junk I gritted my teeth, and hurled the thing off the edge of the Mountain, much against my arms displeasure. The bucket disappeared into the darkness and the blizzard seemed all too obliged to swallow it whole.

I leaned up against the rock and began following the ledge I was on, as it lead downwards. What happened? My rifle was nowhere to be seen, leaving only my sidearm and knife at my disposal.

We were extracting a VIP… 'Least we did that correctly. Then the platform came down and I dove for the Pelican, I tried to at least. I slipped and fell… Shouldn't I be dead? I peered over the edge and looked on, I must've fallen onto this small ledge on the side of the mountain. Snow might've broken my fall, whatever it was, I was alive.

I followed along the ledge and began feeling the decline. It was getting colder and I wouldn't last long against the elements. I could already feel my eyes drooping and my body withering more than it already was, maybe I should just give in? No… No not yet. I've survived worse… I think?

Just keep movi-SHIT! My foot slip as the path took a sharp decline. As my foot fell under and I lost my balance I twisted over and began reaching for something as I slid down. The top half of my body slammed into the ground as I began slipping off the edge, the same way I had in the Pelican. Not happening again!

As my hands clawed and scratched at the snow I drew my knife. Mustering up as much force as I could from my weakened appendages. Driving the blade into the ground my body came to an unexpected stop at the edge. My legs and other arm dangled helplessly in the air, I faced a 15 foot drop, maybe?

My body relaxed from the tension, only for a moment. The knife began losing its place as the weight of my body began overtaking it. I tried to pull myself up in time but the knife only came out quicker. I felt the all too familiar feeling of gravity pulling my body down. Before I could even grasp what happened I hit the rock beneath me and could hear all throughout my body the **CRUNCH** of bone breaking. I bit my tongue and came back to my feet against my own bodies wishes. I looked around for any sort of shelter but to no avail.

What I did find however, was a slope leading down into a clearing of rock and trees. I was getting near the bottom at least. I slid down the side of the mountain on my ass and felt each rock stab it. When I reached the clearing I was relieved to find a small indent in the rock face of the mountain. Big enough I could fit a Warthog in it. I limped over to the crevice with a hand on my side. I began feeling the wind in my hair again and stopped in my tracks.

I hadn't felt the proper wind for years now.

Maybe the occasional Pelican ride out yes, but my helmet had always remained on. It was weird actually, but forcing the thoughts out of my head I drew my SOCOM and activated the flashlight on it. I began shining it over the crevice, only to be let down when nothing was there. Damn… Was hoping for a meal maybe. I walked inside and slowly placed myself against the cave's walls. Sitting and holding my legs tightly to my chest, I wasn't going to die here. Not yet at least.

I brought up my left hand and began tapping at the TACPAD on my wrist. It seemed to be intact, maybe I could find a way out of here? I pulled up the digital map on it and began sliding and analyzing the mountain range. I was somewhere near the bottom, maybe an hours hike down to the base of the mountain. From there I'd be able to find a path that lead to… Somewhere. When we created the map we took everything within a 10 mile radius of the range and slapped it on, when we picked up a city we didn't bother with its name.

It was a small coastal place wedged in between 2 towering rock formations. As well as a wall large enough that even we'd have trouble breaking it down. I could make my way there, might be a day's journey at best. Thank God for land nav training back during bootcamp.

Not that any of that really mattered though… Without a heat source I'd be dead in the next hour or so. I raised myself up and set out into the snow once more. A thick group of trees was less than 100 meters away, if I was lucky I'd be able to maybe find some wood that could be burned. My knife wasn't exactly equipped for chopping down trees. I eyed down a dead tree that had fallen over in the snow, a log to be more specific. It wasn't exactly big, but it definitely was sizable enough to last a couple hours. The wood was maybe about as thick as a Scorpions cannon, meaning that it couldn't weigh that much.

I gripped the rear of the fallen tree and began dragging in through the snow and towards the small cave a ways back. Eventually I hauled the thing into the cave, just barely fitting inside. Dusting off my gloves I drew my knife. The thing about standard issue knives in the UNSC was that they are FUCKING massive. From there I began hacking away at the log, stripping it of all it's branches first and then moving towards cutting bigger chunks of it.

I wouldn't use all of it for obvious reasons, I may be stuck here for awhile if this storm kept up. No way in hell I'm braving the climb down like this. In all honesty there really wasn't a way to do this efficiently, just hack at it and keep up the pressure until I could just stomp off the piece. I did so for nearly and hour, and fought through the cold overtaking my body. About three quarters still remained of the log, deciding not to waste time I got to building the fire.

Setting up the pieces typee style I threw the kindling inside of it and looked for rock or something hard at least. I found a stretched out pebble instead, one that would suit my needs. Placing myself as close to the kindling as possible and flipping my knife over to the blunt side I pressed the stone against it. I ran the blunt side of my blade down the stone swiftly causing a few sparks to fly out, and then some more, and then even more.

I repeated the process for almost a minute until one lucky spark caught the thin strips of wood and began burning. Capitalizing on the moment I began blowing into the fire, causing it to rise and settle with my breathes. It wasn't long until I wasn't needed anymore. The fire had caught on quickly and was now burning at a sustainable pace.

I let my body relax against the cold rock of my new home and looked out into the snow. Barely able to see beyond 10 feet now. Ideally, the storm would stop by tomorrow. I'd rest up and the venture out towards that city, maybe find transport back to a UNSC ground site, we'd be in Atlas for a while now so I'd assume there'd be one, right?

I let the thoughts drift as I focused on feeding the fire and staying warm, my mind wandered and soon my eyes drooped closed. I'm so tired… so, so, so… Tired. I just want to sleep.

 **6 Hours Later - The Present**

The helicopter drowned out the sounds of almost everything at the FOB, the men, the trucks, the artillery, almost everything. As we neared a makeshift landing zone I hunched over and shuffled to the side of the Falcon. Taking the arm of Jones from one side while Kerry took the other. I looked down and saw a pair of medics with a field stretcher ready to receive him. Good… He'd make it.

The Falcon hit the concrete with a bounce and scrape of steel. We immediately loaded off and began handing over Jones to the two medics, Kerry would stick with us though. Afterwards, I rallied my team and we began navigating the camp. In all honesty the base was nothing more than a few sandbags, barricades, tents, and portable buildings. All with Pelicans flying down routinely to drop off supplies.

As we pushed past squads of Marines, Atlas personnel, and the occasional civilian we made our way to the briefing tent. The scarcely small number of civilians aside, it looked like everything was in order. I pushed past the flap of the tent to be greeted by a friendly face, the Major. Alongside him were 2 other officers, each manning a station of radio communications or map layouts. "Good to see 'ya Onyx, grab a chair. Let's make this quick." I made my way to a foldable chair in the corner of the room as the rest of the team did the same.

"Thanks to you, our air capabilities are doing a lot better, at this rate we may have the city back in a week or two." Martinez and Deruld both fist bumped each other in celebration, a simple hand motion and stern look from me stopped that. The Major's voice dropped into a condemning one. "This is no cause for celebration, we've still got a lot of plays to make and not much time to do it. HIGHCOM's losing interest in this world fast!" We all sat up straight and began listening more intently.

He sighed and looked towards the ground, before fixing his posture and preparing his thick southern voice. "A few hours ago we received the promised shipment of the new material called 'dust' from the Schnee…" What the fuck did that asshole do to the shipment, explosive maybe? "Once we began transporting the shit out of Remnant's atmosphere it became… ineffective." I stood up from my chair and placed both my hands on the holo-table. "And what exactly to do you mean, Major?!" After the mission to grab that cocksucker I was already pissed enough.

"Initial first hand experiments were conducted on the ground, showed that they had massive kinetic and specialization potential for the war. However, they got real homesick after we left, and soon they became useless. Just a bunch of sand and crystal at that point." I brought my dirt covered gloves over my eyes, temporarily staining my brow a thick brown. "Okay… Go on?" Next time I see that Schnee dickhead I'm gonna break his fucking jaw. "With no real resource to collect here, HIGHCOM is considering a full scale withdrawal, letting Remnant handle the Covenant on their own. A little payback for wasting our time." It was at this point I butted in and made my position clear on the subject. "Yes, and rightfully so, but why are we still here then?"

The Major stood up and tapped away at the console of the table, a 3D schematic of what looked to be a lab hovered above it. "They still believe that there's something useful we can take, but with the war going as it is, Atlas has completely denoted the idea of cooperating with us." My team began gathering around, analyzing the schematics as I propped half of my ass up onto the table. Crossing my arms defiantly. "Right… I see where you're going, but what does this lab have to do with anything?" He brought both his hands up to his hips and stretched out his back. "With no other way to gain access to this world's secrets… HIGHCOM has authorized us to steal EVERYTHING." My team recoiled in shock.

"About 2 hours ago we intercepted a radio communication between Atlas Command and a team of their Specialists. They're going to an underwater facility in the Northern Atlas Sea, their mission is to retrieve some 'critical' data." We stirred in our places, this wasn't sounding any better. "That same facility was just recently attacked by the Covenant, your job is to get inside, steal as much data as possible, then wipe the servers clean before they can get to it and lock us out. Or just blow that shit skyhigh after you've got what we need. Clear?" the Major let out quickly. Matthews raised his hand slowly, eyeing the schematics down.

"Sir, what exactly do we do WHEN we run into the Specialists. I doubt they're gonna just let us take their shit?" Major Grant simply swallowed a lump in his throat and pointed towards the rear of the structure. "Yes, we've already thought about that, we're inserting you via SOC boat on the opposite side of the lab. From there…" The hologram then showed a single dot representing us, moving through the facility and towards and area marked OBJ. "Our Specialists will keep the Covenant's attention, while you all sneak in, grab the intel, wipe everything, destroy anything we tell you too, and get the fuck out!"

Martinez raised his hand instead this time, spitting out a wad of chewing tobacco. "Okay boss, but that wasn't the question. What do we do when we run into them, it's gonna happen?" He took a long pause and seemed to genuinely ponder the ramifications of such a scenario. "In the event that your compromised, you are given full authority to conduct yourselves in a way that keeps our involvement a secret. For the duration of the whole thing all 'official' UNSC markings on your gear is to be removed. This is both a Covert and Clandestine op, so if you are caught we WILL throw you under the bus. 'Ya here?" The explanation was vague but I'd heard it before with ONI. If they see us in any way, we kill them. If they suspect us of being there, we kill them. If they so much as hear us breath, we kill them. We all made our way towards the door before Grant called out to us. "Be at the docks in 30 minutes, scuba gear… Gentleman, as of right now we are 'unofficially' at war with the nations of Remnant. Let's keep it that way."

We exited the command tent and made our way to the makeshift armory near the motor pool. I stepped up before the armorer and slid a sheet of paper entailing to each piece of gear we'd need. Not a word was spoken. My team began removing their helmets and BDU's until we were nothing but in our undergarments. The armorer returned quickly and handed out the black, full body scuba suits. No insignia, no patches, nothing that could even make it seem like we were UNSC except out weapons. Assuming they'd see our weapons… It'd be too late for them.

We slipped into the suits quickly, the rubbery material latching onto our bodies tightly. Throwing the rest of our kit on overtop we made our way to the docks. On the small wooden outreach was a crate just overflowing with the rest of our dive equipment. Flippers, tanks, goggles, everything. Next to it was a single unmarked SOC boat, and once again every single marking was gone. Doesn't get much more covert than this, it also didn't help that the sun was beginning to set as well. A small crew of gunners and a single driver stood there, unflinching, and despite the quiet nature of the mission. These guys were armed to the teeth with such heavy firepower I couldn't help but feel that the Major expected us to fail.

It wasn't long before we all loaded up, put on our flippers, attached our oxygen tanks, and slipped on the scuba masks. We conducted a quick radio check and made sure that everything was running smoothly, and like that the boat was leaving the docks. Of course though, a few Marines had gathered near the edge of the sea to investigate what was going on. Unaffiliated masked soldiers in all black hop inside an unmarked vehicle and you can only wonder what's going on. The bumpy ocean kept us moving in our seats as we closed in on the facility. By now the water was covered by complete darkness. It'd been nearly a 2 hour ride.

Even with the engine in the background I could only hear my own heartbeat. The lights on the boat were out and the crew was using NVG's to see, us included. Now these weren't the usual built in goggles we were used too, without our helmets we were going old school. Well at least for them, we had something a little more advanced built into our masks but still. That spoke volumes about how the UNSC didn't want to get caught. Eventually a bright light and the sound of wind rushing past us spooked the crew. We immediately killed the engine and began scanning the skies, and that's when we saw it.

A single Bullhead circled around a single patch of water, seemingly waiting for something. Within seconds a landing pad began rising from the ocean and the Bullhead lowered down for a landing. As the doors opened on its side a team of 6 Specialists exited the aircraft, the water being kicked up by the Bullhead as well as the light from it caused us to only make out one person. A tall woman with white hair and uniform, and a saber in her hand. The sight made me relieved slightly, for a second I thought we were facing actual soldiers.

"Big Eye this is Predator, we have a visual on target structure and awaiting go-signal." Big Eye being Major Grant and Predator being us, even with our tech we couldn't risk our signals getting hijacked and them finding out. Good old codenames as it was right now. "Big Eye copies all, you are a go, I repeat Predator, you are a go." I stood up and sat myself on the edge of the boat as the rest of the team did the same. The Bullhead had killed its lights at this point and remained on the platform, that would make leaving a little difficult.

As I secured my scuba mask and got ready to hit the water, a single hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I switched back on my NVG's and saw it was Matthews again. "Boss… We sure about this?" No going back at this point, might as well slam it in. "We don't pick who we're fighting Matt, their just another target." With that I fell backwards and felt the, almost forgotten feeling, of my weightlessness in the water. As the NVG's in my scuba goggles adjusted I saw 6 other figures with me in the darkness. With all of us ready and floating there I switched on comms.

"Alright everyone, keep spaced out, on me." As my head turned and my body adjusted downwards I swam towards the blackened silhouette about 100 meters or so down. Small lights lined the walls of the facility as we made our way closer. God I didn't even want to think about what terrible creatures lay in this world's oceans. As we approached what looked like a moonpool on the farthest point from the Specialis, we went under it. As expected the pool was closed off and sealed tight, and with Jones still in the med bay we'd have to brute force most of the stuff that we, ourselves, couldn't access.

"Matthews your up." We all swam to a corner of the large moonpool doors and stabilized ourselves, our weapons pointing up. As Matthews drew what looked like a small flare from his belt before twisting the top and a bright light came from it. Matthew guided the torch alongside the small line of the 2 doors, creating a small gap in between them. Finally, he brought out another item from his belt, this time a long piece of tape. He attached the 'tape' along the gap he had created and nodded a few times, before looking to us and giving the 'okay' signal and then swimming to safety.

My head slowly turned to him, my weapon still aimed at the door, and nodded. He slapped the clacker in his hands and the tape ignited immediately. The tape burned and burned before the fire spread way beyond that of the hyperbaric tape, and within less than a minute, a giant hole had been singed out of the equally massive doors. I flicked my 2 fingers forward, signalling my team to go. We approached the breach with our weapons trained upwards, slowly emerging from the water.

As my head poked up I scanned everything within my slice of the room, nothing but dead bodies, blood, and plasma burns. At least they'd cleared a path for us, but how the hell did the Covenant get inside? I gripped the edge of the hole we'd created and pulled myself inside, the water dripping from my gear. I quickly removed my scuba mask and flippers, clipping them onto my kit. After dumping my tank I brought my M7S up and extended the buttstock to a comfortable length. The suppressed SMG was standard for everyone on this one, it'd be close all the way through.

As my team did the same I peered over into the dimly lit waters below. The surface reflecting nicely in the ambient light of the moonpool, my black and grey facepaint hadn't lost its touch at all. Without helmets to conceal our identity we had to go old school, and frankly, we weren't going to wear a fucking ski mask underwater. Command wasn't risking the off chance of one of them recognizing us or even the cameras capturing our face. Like I said earlier, this shit was about as covert as it got.

The sounds of weapons clacking and metal hitting metal meant we were ready to go. My team approached the door that would lead us past the observation deck and into the main lab. If we were quick and the Covenant was dumb, we'd be in and out in 15 minutes. No one would even know we were here. The metal doors slid open with a hydraulic hiss and my team entered quickly and quietly. Our footprints barely audible over the bells and whistles in the distant corridors. The emergency lights breathed red into the halls, we stepped over a pair of dead scientists before getting to the observation deck.

If these Specialists fought the Covies anything like their counter-parts, we'd have a window big enough to fit a fat fucker to work with. We bounded past an adjacent corridor as I set myself up on the corner. "Set." I whispered out, no internal comm link here. Man all this ol' school spec ops shit got me thinking of old movies I use to watch when I was a kid. My team passed me by and I found myself at the rear of the formation, that was until we came to a sudden halt and 3 muffled shots came from the front, followed by a thud. The team kept moving forward and I caught glimpse of the kill we'd made. A lost Atlas guard who'd probably survived the initial attack was now squirming on the floor, trying to stop the rapid bleeding from his chest before he simply stopped moving.

He looked young, maybe mid-twenties at best. Wrong place, wrong time.

We hooked a left and found ourselves going down another large hallway, a twin set of doors on the right side however would lead us to the lab. We stacked up on both sides of the entrance, with me on point. I felt the squeeze below my leg and waited half a second before entering. Thank god the security systems had seemingly been fucked to hell or else we may of had to blow it open.

I entered the room first and cut right, following the balcony that overlooked an operating table of sorts in the middle of the room down a set of stairs. As I scanned my section of the room and found nothing but equipment and instruments. I hissed out to my team as quietly as I could while still being heard. "Clear." A few seconds later and from the opposite balcony, Sierra called out as well. "Clear." The callouts continued to come in for about 30 seconds until something different came, a panicked voice that wasn't of my team.

"Oh thank god it's Special Forces!" A single scientist in a blood stained lab coat stood up from behind the table down in the center of the room. A small group of others quickly appeared out from cover and revealed themselves. Ah shit. Martinez and Deruld moved down to secure them. Deruld kept his weapons trained on them and Martinez looked up to me. The thought of trying to get them to give us access by lying to them came into my head but they'd figure out we weren't Atlas just by our guns alone. Not to mention the device we'd been given should have no problem hacking into their shit anyways.

"Those aliens sued some type of boarding craft to get here and just started killing everyone, not even trying to steal anything, just killing!" His voice was a mixture of fear and relief, they thought they were being saved. I could see the scientists, both male and female, all hugging each other as if they'd been saved.

My team all looked to me, Deruld had lowered his weapon and looked tempted to go forward and help them.

Martinez's face said it all 'what the fuck do we do' was all that he was showing me.

In that moment I entered a stated I'd only entered a handful for times while In was working for ONI. I looked down to them and nodded. Sealing their fates. Without even fucking flinching Martinez and Deruld quickly drew their weapons and the crowd stuttered back in disbelief. A single second hung in the air before they both started blasting into them, the bullets tore through them and cut each of them down within seconds. A few of them escaped the volley and tried to make a run for an exit, only for Sierra to gun them down from the balcony above.

Despite all that was going on the only thought going through my mind was how we could cover this up. Our ammunition alone would be a dead give away, meaning we'd have to destroy this whole fucking station to do it. The smoke from their barrels dissipated and a single word flew through the air. "Clear." It was spoken as clear and concisely as possible, unfeeling.

"Alright… Start grabbing everything from their servers. According to the schematics the systems here reach the entire facility, make it quick." As my team all moved to the already pre-assigned positions and began locking in their drives, the data transfer appeared on my TACPAD. Immediately shooting up to 25% and steadily climbing up to 30% in 10 seconds. Estimated time was at 3 minutes.

"Kerry what's our mission clock at?" He slung his SMG to his hip and checked his watch. Examining it for a full 10 seconds, yes, I counted. "9 minutes, 37 seconds. We're ahead of schedule." I nodded approvingly and checked my wrist again. "35% people, stay with it." And so we stood there, waiting for it to finish. Occasionally rocking from explosions and the sound of battle in the distance.

Until the battle grew closer and closer, and the sounds got louder and louder. At first we prayed they'd move past us but it was made very clear that they were aiming at this room. Mainly by one voice breaking through the gunfire and slashing with "Get to the main lab!" firmly and loudly.

"Boss whatta' we do?" came from Martinez, and thinking on my feet I tried to remember what Reeves told us on the rooftop when we found him.

" _Put some distance between you and them and find some cover or concealment. Pick them off one by one. They don't last very long in proper gunfights."_

We couldn't create much distance in hear but we could take 'em by surprise.

"Kill the lights!" Immediately 2 guns pointed towards the ceiling and the sound of glass shattering and lights flickering echoed in the room before everything went dark. The only light being that of the hallway creeping through the door. We all moved to a different part of the room, and I made a risky guess.

That pile of dead bodies in the middle of the whole fucking place was both a problem and a solution. Assuming these guys weren't as disciplined as us, they'd focus on walking down there to investigate. Putting them right in the killzone. With that thought up I hit my push-to-talk. "Everyone get positioned around the balcony, wait until their down there."

I couldn't see anyone moving in the darkness without NVG's, a bit of faith never hurt anyone eh? The sounds of battle stopped suddenly, and a single body fell through the door frame, an Elite with a saber in it's chest. Followed by a tall young woman with fair complexion. White hair and slate blue eyes. Followed by a few other young men and woman, 5 to be exact. 6 man team, got it. Beyond that I didn't bother to analyze the rest, just more targets. They all activated flashlights and began moving.

My plan almost had a wrench thrown in it as the team spread out through the lab and began moving to the balcony, their swords, maces, knives, etc, in hand. Not a single gun though, their weapons probably transformed into guns though. That seemed to be the trend here. A single female voice called out from below. "Schnee, you may want to take… Take a look at this…" The voice was that of pure disgust, must've found our little mess.

Despite the now named Schnee, by god how many people were in this family, only being called. The rest of the team broke formation and converged down there I suppose this is a little personal payback for that fucker Jacques screwing us over, to be honest I somewhat looked forward to killing her. FUCK DON'T LOSE FOCUS!

"Wha!?...Oh." She cried out before silencing herself. I could hear the sounds of their shock, and one of them actually puking. "I guess there's no turning back now 'Coop, smoke 'em?" We all moved up into firing positions, looming over them, weapons at the ready. The new Schnee bent over and grabbed a bullet casing in her shock. "A… shell?" She was catching on real quick.

She was brought out of her concentration by one of her subordinates. "Winter… I don't think was those things?" Winter Schnee huh? Interesting… The few that were clear headed looked around suspiciously in their place. The rest couldn't take their eyes off the corpses. This is why you don't send kids to do a man's work. "Alright… Smoke 'em." I whispered into comms. Immediately our spray of gunfire rained upon them, their aura only shielding them for a brief moment before our bullets penetrate their flesh.

Within seconds their bodies went limp and hit the floor, only a single one was left moving. My team reloaded their weapons and I vaulted over the edge of the balcony down to the level below. Specialists huh? They lasted 5 goddamn seconds at best. "What're you doing 'Coop, let's go!" That came from Kerry, but I said nothing in return. There was still one left, and I knew who it was. Time for some payback.

Maybe I blamed Jacques for Reeves death, but frankly this just got personal.

She layed on the floor, leaning against her forearm slightly to see me. One of the fallen flashlights illuminated her entirely, and leaving me only as a dark silhouette in front of her. Blood began spitting out of her mouth and staining her nice white uniform. Well… More than the holes in her chest already had. She looked at her dead comrades in horror. "M-My team…. YOU, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" She tried to reach for her weapon only for me to kick away. Her eyes gazed up to the dark slits that were visible through the face paint. In that moment I think she figured it out. "I-It's you… The ones everyone's been talking about… We never should've trusted you!" More blood oozed from her wounds rapidly. If I didn't kill her, blood loss would. Better beat it to the punch then.

I snapped a chem-light in front of her, letting her see my face. She didn't know me, but I figured she might as well see the blackened and unidentifiable face of the one who'd killed her. "When Atlas… Ironwood, find out what happened here, the people you slaughtered!" I drew my SOCOM and planted it on her forehead, her breathes grew heavier as she began going into shock. "No… They won't" I pulled the trigger.

A golf-ball sized hole was left in her forehead as her brains blew out the back. Her body dropped to the metal floor beneath her and a pool around her head began to form. Job's done.

We grabbed the drives, lucky for us since this place was synched to every other system. The tech did its job and wiped the surveillance tapes, cameras, audio recordings, everything that would let them know what went down here. With most of the Covenant in here dead by our dear Specialists hands, we made our way to the generator room as fast as we could. Matthews basically just slapped a charge right on the thing like a sticker and said. "Good enough" To be honest we all wanted off this fucking thing right now.

We placed the drives in water-tight containers and threw on our scuba gear. Time to fucking leave. We all jumped through the hole and began making our swim to the surface. Along the way I radioed into Command. "Predator to Big Eye, we are exfilling now. Intel secured, we are heading out." As we broke the surface next to the SOC boat, that was still where it was originally, we got a reply. "Big Eye copies all. We'll see you back at base, out." The crew leaned over the edge and pulled each of us onto the boat. I checked my watch for mission time, we'd gotten aboard at 13 minutes, 26 seconds.

"What about that aircraft?" One of the boat guys called out to their driver. Apparently they'd been listening in on the radio traffic coming from it. It hadn't gotten a response from the Specialists and was taking off to grab another team. We couldn't let that happen. As it rises into a light hover above the platform, the boat gunners begin spinning up their turrets. We can hear the pilot over the radio. "Misfit 1-2 to Gauntlet team, please respond, this is my last hail before I dustoff." The driver, looked at me for approval to shoot this thing down. I gave a solid nod and he nodded back before giving a thumbs up to his guys. They fired the second he gave them the all clear.

The tracer rounds sailed through the air as the all-too familiar BRRRRRRT sound filled the once silent sea. We heard his surprise over the hijacked comms. "Oh fuck, where the hell did that come from!" 3 more seconds went by. "Shit, Ben they hit the left engine. I'm losing her!" 5 more seconds. "THIS IS MISFIT MAYDAY MAYDAY, OH SHI-!" Was the last thing we heard as the Bullhead spun out of control and plummeted towards the sea. I almost thought we'd have to jump back in there to make sure the pilot was dead, but the thing burst into flames before impact. Both pilot and co-pilot were dead alright.

Afterward, the engines fired back to life and Matthews hit his clacker one more time. The muffled explosion and fire were suppressed by the water but we knew it was destroyed. Any evidence left would be eaten by aquatic wildlife or taken miles away at sea. It was still the dead of night. Easily the biggest operation of this whole campaign was completed in 13 minutes and 26 seconds. I led my head lean against the cold edge of the boat, despite all that just happened I didn't have any regrets. Orders were orders after all.

No doubt HIGHCOM would have other missions like this. Until we could officially cut-ties with this place and leave we'd have to work like this. 17 Atlas personnel dead by our hands, 6 Specialists, 2 pilots, a lots of destroyed property. Maybe one of these days the truth would come out, not like that would change anything. Afterall, what could they do to stop us?

This was the right thing to do. If any of this gave us a better chance at saving our world, we had to take it. There was no choice.

We had too, and I don't regret a fucking thing.

 **Probably one of my longer chapters for awhile. I'm not abandoning this story, hell to the fucking no. I love this story way too much and there's so much more I want to show.**

 **Now I know I promised a Q &A but frankly I just didn't get any questions, so until then I'll just carry on.**

 **We finally got into some real black operations type shit here, and I'm sure I'm gonna catch flak for killing Winter but I wasn't lying when I said no one is safe. Let this be an example. The UNSC will do what's necessary and sooner or later it'll be RWBY or JNPR in their way.**

 **Anyway, please leave a review about this chapter please. I need to know if you guys enjoy where I'm taking this story or not.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 10 Snatch and Grab

Chapter 10

Snatch and Grab

"Gentleman, good work on securing that data. Our analysts have reviewed it and found something interesting." I leaned forward in my chair, the seemingly soft fabrics of my combat shirt and pants provided comfort after recent events. It'd been 2 days since we'd gotten back from what was now being called 'Operation: Breakneck'. Since then, UNSC forces had scratched and clawed their way to the halfway point in the city. 2 Corvettes got shot down as well, all in all, we were making good progress.

"That facility housed more than just R&D babble, we've gained significant intel on the whereabouts of Atlas' key players and military infrastructure. One such name however, has caught Commands eye." In the 2 days since the operation, word had gotten back to Atlas about the lost of the bird, team, and laboratories. From what we intercepted on their frequencies, their trying to sweep as much of it under the rug as possible. They don't suspect a thing.

"William Geppetto, high-ranking Atlas scientist. Responsible for the creation of many of their plasma and energy based weapons." I turned my head towards my team. All of which seemed to not understand where this was going, assassination maybe? "More interesting however, is his creation of P. E. N. N. Y. M374." the holographic table switched slides, displaying a volumetric hologram of a young female girl with orange hair and bright green eyes. The fuck were we looking at?

"'Da fuck are we looking at sir?" Came from Martinez, always had a way with words that one. The Major simply grinned before tapping his datapad one last time, the hologram faded. The once young girl's figure now became transparent, revealing a metallic and wiry inside. Martinez then jolted back in confusion and shock. "You telling me they did that to a little girl!" His hispanic accent began peeking through.

The Major chuckled before gesturing to the hologram. "No Martinez, this was never even human to begin with." We all shared a look of complete disbelief with ourselves before gazing back at the screen. "This here is Geppetto's prized possession, a fully autonomous and self-aware AI… Completely disguised as a normal human." The Major gaucked at the schematics, leaving only my team to wonder what an old man would need a robot teenage girl for.

Surprisingly, the next voice of input was from the usually quiet Sierra. "What exactly does this mean anyway?" Grant rolled his eyes once again in response. Tapping once more on his pad, the image now pulling out and a series of hardware were stripped off the blueprint and into view. "Now as interesting as the whole idea of conscious AI sounds, that's not what we're after… No, what Geppetto's done is taken all of that and equip it with some of the deadliest weapons in the Atlas arsenal." The image then moved once more, displaying what appeared to be a sword, a bunch of swords in a circle, some type of hydraulic booster, and some type of joint.

"This son of a bitch is equipped with wire-guided swords that it can command at will with lethal precision. Alongside that, it's able to organize said swords into some sort of magnetically focused cannon of plasma." A clip of the young girl in a training room appeared. It showed the flock of blades flying around her with great speed, slicing through training bots, before combining them and blasting the rest away with an energy blast.

If it already wasn't clear, our jaws were on the floor.

"Not only that but it's outfitted with acceleration mainframes that would give our fighters a run for their money. Finally, the joints are hydraulically driven, meaning they can withstand massive amounts of pressure." The next clip showed the same model, blazing around the room at breakneck speeds, the camera had to be slowed so we could see it. Then the damn thing lifted up what appeared to be an Atlas tank with it's bare hands. Goddamn… no way in hell I'd fight that thing in a fair bout.

"Your mission is to locate, secure, and extract William Geppetto. From what our intel has gathered, he's being housed at a remote Atlas military base and research facility." We were still at awe with what we'd seen. If shit like that was at this base, we may need more than just a team of operators for this one. Seeing the clear and present danger, I spoke up. "Sir, how exactly are we supposed to pull this one off." He pondered the idea for a moment. I then stood up from my chair and began typing something on the holo-table. The satellite images of the base appeared, time to make my case.

"The place is guarded by at least a battalion of Atlas' finest soldiers. Not the children we've been dealing with, SOLDIERS. Not to mention, plenty of automated security and those fucking androids." I then took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. "Now… Assuming we sneak past all the guards, robots, cameras, sensors, and whatnot. How do you expect us to haul an old man out of there without being seen?" My eyebrow raised to emphasize the question.

"Now, in the realistic event we're compromised, how could we cover this up? We'd have response teams at the base in less than 30 minutes. Wouldn't be long until they figured out UNSC were trying to nab one of their guys? I'm not doubting our chances, my team can handle the numbers. We CAN get you this guy, but there is… No way we can do this covertly."

I fixed my posture and awaited a response. The Major then gave a hand motion as if to say 'you done?' I nodded affirming the notion. He then sighed dramatically before stepping forward again. "Well… you are right, under normal circumstances, such an operation would be impossible." Oh god, where was he going with this. "But we've decided to…" His eyes shot up to the back of his skull in thought. "Manipulate the variables a bit." My arms crossed as I made my own 'go on' gesture.

"About 15 hours ago we had an ONI team dispatched to the location, in which they deployed a comms beacon earilly similar to that of an Atlas frequency over the net." No way, they didn't. That'd be crazy! "That very same signal, the Covenant could detect and track. And as of 0900, has deployed a battalion to eradicate the base." Leave it to us to HELP the enemy. Goddamnit I loved and hated how fucking clever the chain of command was sometimes.

Finally, getting the point of his plan, I finished his thinking. "So you want to use the Covenant as a diversion to lure out Geppetto, and while he's in transit out of there…" Probably to a safe house or someshit like that. "We grab him?" He nodded and smirked devilishly. "Exactly… From what ONI's gathered up, his security is fairly light. He'll be traveling in an armored vehicle, with a single lead car for extra security. Covenant forces won't reach the base for 2 more hours, we'll keep you updated if anything changes though." From that statement alone, we knew he was basically telling us to get going.

My team exited the tent and made our way to the armory… Again. Along the way I caught a broader glimpse of the FOB. Less tents and more portable structures, defenses had gotten a complete makeover. More artillery and actual landing pads. The UNSC was making its presence known.

Our loadout was fairly simple, black clothing with normal gear overtop. Without the problem of water this time, we'd stick to the more conventional means instead. Tight fitting and covering up to the nose, anything that did that would work. Personally, I had chosen a bandana to wrap around my face, but some of my squad chose half-face masks or balaclava. We'd throw on shades to cover the eyes, no helmet though. Something as identifiable as the CH252 helmet would be a dead give away. Everyone else would run their specialized loadouts, no need for standardization here. The terrain was inclined and the environment was that of a boreal forest. Which meant there'd be ample opportunity to utilize each of my squadmates skill sets. As per usual, we made sure all our gear was unmarked.

We looked more like well-armed thugs than uniformed soldiers. Which was sorta the point, if we all dressed the same it'd be easier to pinpoint us to an organization. The, somewhat, randomness in our dress made it so it'd be easier to just pass us off as a rogue militia. My wrinkled forehead and short cut hair was all that was visible, the black bandana concealing enough. Finally finishing up our game of dress up, we made our way to the pads.

Even while on base, our faces were covered, nothing identifiable. That's when I bumped into an all-too familiar Rose. As my team marched up near a Falcon that was grounded ad the farthest pad, I nearly trampled the poor girl. It was an accident of course, she's very small and I'm not exactly of average height myself. I caught my balance and turned around to see her turning red with embarrassment. Which is impressive considering everything she wheres is red.

"O-oh sorry sir, I was just on my way with my team for a mission and then I bumped into you. I'm just really sorry, andwowthat'ssomeinterestinggearyoudon'tlooklikethenorm-!" she began talking a mile-a-minute. So I decided to end her sentence before she spoke every word in the english language. "It's fine, what are you doing out here?" the questions was out of genuine curiosity. Despite them being Huntsman, the base treated them like civilians at this point.

She then shrunk a little bit at my question. Geeze, I kill people for a living and now I feel like a jerk. She meekly pointed at her team approaching behind her. "Me and my team are just on a mission right now...So, ya know…" She rocked nervously as my eyes squinted behind my shades. "Mission?" As if on queue, a Bullhead flew in and began landing at one of the pads. "Yeah actually, with no school for us we've been taken under by Atlas. Ironwood has been dispatching Huntsman across the Kingdom." Huh, I'm assuming the Major was aware of this. Considering the fact that the Bullhead flew in without being shot down immediately.

"Really, didn't know that… What kinda missions?" Call it a bit of intelligence gathering, but she was too young to see what I was doing. Either way, it's not like the Grimm were much of a problem right now, meaning Huntsman would have to take a more militaristic role I suppose. "Oh just about anything, support missions, defense missions, security missions, aid missions. Not anything like you guys are doing… Though, this next mission we almost didn't take. One of my teammates, Weiss, lost someone recently…" Oh shit…. Oh fuck. I almost laughed. I completely forgot about that!

Keeping my professionalism intact, I responded. "That's war." I began turning towards our ride when Ruby called out one more time. "WAIT!... I've never seen the UNSC wear that sorta gear before, and you don't have any markings." Well she wasn't extremely observant or else she'd of realized who I was. We met after the mission to grab Jacques afterall. But she wasn't that dumb either, she knew this wasn't regular shit. As if to make things worse, Yang showed up and questioned as well. "Who the hell are you?"

I made a head twitch with my team to get on the Falcon, I'll handle this. Here's hoping I've still got it from my time in ONI. Rule 1: Deny as much as possible. "You'd be right to think we're not UNSC, just another player in the game. As for the weapons… Well you'd be amazed how guns get passed around." This one always worked. Made 'em think there was a 3rd party involved. The rest of team RWBY seemed to be okay with that, but Yang only squinted before turning away and boarding the Bullhead with the rest of her team.

It wasn't long before I did the same.

The Falcon took off promptly, and after a quick headcount, all 5 of us were aboard. Jones wasn't cleared yet, that shot did a number on him, surgeons say he may not even see action again. I'm sure he'll find a way though, for a nerd, he always wanted to fight. It'd be a long flight, nearly 2 hours in fact, we'd be arriving around the same time the Covenant attacked. Meaning that our window would be pretty tight. Not to mention it'd be done in broad daylight, we'd be hiking back to a secluded LZ once we had the target to avoid any unwanted confrontations.

Using the time we had to my advantage, I accessed my TACPAD, and decided to look over a map of the AO. The base was wedged between a rugged cliff side, only about 3 kilometers away from it, and a winding hillside road. Our target had one way out, no way they'd risk airlifting Geppetto out with Banshees swarming above like moths to a flame. The trail they'd go down would be heavily concealed by the thick forest surrounding it. Even SAT images didn't bode well on looking through it, that'd be a good spot to hit him.

About half way into the flight I got a call from voice of god. "Predator this is Big Eye, how copy?" I shot up in my chair and brought a hand up to my ear. It's odd not wearing a helmet, just body armor, oakley's, and a bandana protected me at this point. My fingers pressed down on a small button on the earpiece in my… Well, ear. "Predator copies all, go ahead Big Eye." My team somehow heard me over the propellers and engine, they decided to listen in. Only hearing my side of the conversation. "Mission update Predator, ONI just spotted another Bullhead arriving at the base, more security for our dear doctor." I appreciated the heads up, but that really wasn't necessary information to send our way.

"Okay… And?" A small pause followed as my team listened in eagerly. "Target update as well, codename Architect, Big Eye out." The channel went dead with that last piece of information. I rolled my eyes and addressed my team over radio. Helicopters are really, REALLY, fucking loud. "Don't worry, just extra security on Geppetto. From here on, he is to be referred to as 'Architect', operational security and all that." They all nodded in understanding, I could feel their disappointment. They all moved back to their seats.

"Hey, y'all mind if I throw some music on? Kinda getting bored." That came from the pilot of all people. I pondered it for a moment, they certainly wouldn't hear the music, even at full blast, over everything. Might as well make this last hour a fun one. "Yeah, go ahead." A nearly forgotten song began playing faintly over the Falcon. AC/DC Hells Bells. That song may of been hundreds of years old, but even now I can't help but nod my head and word the song. Needless to say, the rest of the way wasn't too boring. Some slight karaoke may of been enjoyed. We're only human after all.

Surprisingly, Sierra was actually the first one to start rocking out. Her red hair, all tied up in a tight ponytail, bouncing back and forth with her head. Before we knew it, everyone was rocking out. Further emphasising the whole, 'rogue militia' thing, we were trying to play. Afterall, what competent fighting force would play music in too battle? Soon we'd be shooting blindly around corners to sell this facade too. Regardless, Martinez joined in next, pulling down his face mask and sticking his tongue out and putting his fingers into the classic 'devil horns' sign. Then Deruld hopped in, turned out he knew the lyrics pretty damn well. Kerry followed up quickly and I was the last to join. It was one hell of a ride.

By the time we reached the AO, the playlist had reached Highway to Hell. I think you can imagine how fucking awesome it was to roll into war with that song in the background. Snapping my team out of their musical performance, we locked ourselves in. Sierra, and her sniper, peered out beside the side gunner seat. A small band running across the Falcon's passenger cabin, for her to put the front of her weapon on too stabilize it. Deruld hopped onto the left side gun as the rest of the team got ready to deploy.

We swung by some Banshees, and over the base quickly enough no one would get a good look. Those poor bastards down there wouldn't live long enough to remember us anyway. They'd been backed into a corner from what I saw, and Wraiths were pummeling them into the dirt, all while Ghosts ran hit and runs on 'em. I was impressed though, I was seeing a lot more Covie bodies than Atlas ones. Not bad, not bad at all. Probably some fine men down there, damn shame we'd have to kill 'em.

We followed the winding dirt road down the hill, flying low in order to spot the transport vehicle. In about one minute, we'd flown away from the base and could see the convoy in the distance. The pilot hit the stick, and we shot towards them. By now, the guitar solo had kicked in, needless to say, our adrenaline was pumping. "Sierra, stop the target vehicle, round will run right through their armor. Deruld, fuck up the lead vehicle." Sierra nodded while her face was pressed up against the cheek guard of her rifle. Deruld smiled and gave a thumbs up, he always did like shooting shit. As we neared the target, the music stopped.

We flew low and tried to match the pace of the convoy, we were just barely above the trees. The transport vehicle was a heavily armored truck, resembling that of one used for SWAT teams. The lead one was more that of a humvee, with one big fucking chaingun on top.

The gunner spotted us and rotated the gun around, Deruld fired first. The MG rounds tore the gunner to pieces and the rest of the vehicle. I could see the bullet holes on the side of it, and the blood splatters on the windows. The Humvee swerved out of control and flipped 2 times before nailing a tree. Leaving the bodies sprawled out across the dirt behind it. At the same time, Sierra fired a shot right at the hood of the truck. A spew of oil splattered across the drivers windshield, Sierra had sent a single round through the engine block. She did so from a moving platform, and at a moving target, both at high speeds. Reeves did know how to pick 'em I guess.

The truck came to a slow stop, our Falcon wrapped around violently to the front of the vehicle. The 2 drivers were facing us directly now, Sierra fired 2 more shots. The first nailing the driver through the glass, center mass. The second, blasting the passengers brains into pink mist. With our ride only a few feet of the ground, I gave the 'go' signal. All of us jumped down quickly and began approaching the truck. Forgoing the plan, I ordered the pilot to stick around instead of flying off to the LZ. No need, this would be in and out.

As Martinez opened the driver seat door and pulled the guy out, mainly because his body was pressing against the wheel and causing the truck to honk very loudly. He also had one of Matthews charges, and strapped the damn thing to the hood of the engine, no evidence. As we crept up near the sides I had Martinez do one more thing, I told him to toss a banger inside it from the small window between the front and back of the truck. He did as ordered and tossed the thing inside there, a muffled bang came from the otherside of the vehicles armored frame. A small flash was also seen from the high windows it had at the back. Hence the word 'flash' and 'bang'.

Strangely though, we heard female screams of agony, alongside and mans, inside. Within the next seconds, 4 figured practically jumped out from the back of the truck. We raised our rifles to fire, a small smoke cloud from the grenade obscuring our full view. Not wanting to risk killing the VIP by accident we waited a second, one dangerous second. What sounded like a pistol firing came next, then Kerry was knocked on his ass from the shot. Spotting the muzzle flash I took aim with my slug-loaded shotgun, and blasted away at the target. Another scream of pure pain came from the smoke, only for the sound of a shotgun being pumped and my ass suddenly being flung 6 feet backwards to be returned. "Get *cough* the fuck out of here, we'll beat the LZ" I shouted to the pilot, who promptly left without being scene, hopefully.

In my peripherals I saw Kerry get up quickly, coughing loudly but alive, and return fire. As the smoke cleared all I saw was a yellow blur rush my position. Acting on instinct, I rolled to my side and up to my knees, weapon at the ready. In my place was a small crater, and a very pissed of blonde woman that I knew all too well at this point, Yang. I fired 2 more slugs at her chest and she stumbled backwards, hitting the truck. Her aura flashed for a moment and her eyes turned flickered red, I thought I had her dead to rights until a white blur flew in front of her and an ice wall came up.

"I got him!" Came from Martinez, who quickly circled around the truck, firing his SOCOM repeatedly at whatever was behind him, one old man in tow. As my team circled around quickly to my side, with the VIP behind us, we concentrated fire at the team ahead of us, team RWBY. With no real cover, and not having enough time to pick a target, while getting lit up like a christmas tree, we backed up into the woods. With cover on our side and all of them in one place, we spread out while streaming a steady flow of suppressing fire. Ruby attempted to spread towards us, only to be discouraged by the hail of bullets. Clearly, not knowing how to react under fire without rushing us with her scythe, her sniper was practically useless.

Blake attempted to use some type of cloning technique to get close, but my men weren't fooled and kept their eyes on her and her only. Weiss's shield cracked and splintered before breaking into a thousand pieces. Her white form and easy target for my boys, her aura being battered down quickly. Yang, now recharged a bit, flung herself forward with the fury of 100 fucking suns. With only split-seconds to react I grabbed Geppetto, and pinned my sidearm against his temple. Yang stopped dead in her tracks, but kept her gauntlets trained at us. At this moment, the shooting stopped, all eyes were on me.

"Back the fuck up or I swear to god, I will dome this cocksucker." They all, looked at each other, before nodding and backing up. With that nod I knew they were up to something. Knowing them, they'd probably try to get me talking, so I'd be off my guard. As they backed up I saw how beat up each one was, Ruby hadn't taken to many hits as she had hidden behind the truck for a majority of the firefight. Blake was gripping her side and gritting her teeth, Weiss was limping, and Yang was heaving like nobody's business.

"Who are you, why are you doing this?" Ruby shouted out as they continued backing up. I could see Sierra getting an itchy trigger finger on her, Ruby may of been fast, but Sierra would pop her no problem if she tried something. I didn't respond and instead whispered on my radio. "Marty', you got that charge ready?" He kept his weapon trained on them and nodded at me. "Good, wait for my word." Ruby made her way to speak but Snow White interrupted.

"ANSWER HER!" I could see her face heating up, her eyes were swelling. I think she was catching on, seeing her anger, I used it. "We're nobody, though you do look oddly familiar to someone I've met?." Of course I knew who she was, I was just hoping she'd catch on. Apparently, she did, tears began running down her cheeks. "IT'S YOU, YOU'RE THE ONES WHO KILLED WINTER!" She readied her weapon, shouting something about gutting me, before a hand reached out and pulled her back. Surprisingly, it was Yang of all people keeping her in check.

I said nothing in return, sometimes not even taunting can be aggravating enough. Ruby spoke up again, her squeaky voice breaking the tension. "Why… Why all of this, for what?" Her words were without meaning, as she looked at Weiss, who nodded in return. She then nodded to Yang. I saw what was happening and made a sweeping motion with my free hand to my team, that told them to keep their eyes out. Almost instantly though, a single rifle shot rang out and Blake hit the ground with a loud thud, hunched over in pain, a couple meters away from the truck. What I once thought was Blake evaporated.

Deruld came out of the treeline, dragging a barely conscious Blake in one hand. A small trail of blood following her. He then tossed the young girl down towards the truck, where her teammates then grabbed her and pulled her back. "Not a bad trick leaving a copy of yourself back there, but you ain't fooling anyone." Good catch Deruld, might've just saved our asses. The standoff continued.

"Any more tricks, and you're all dead." My voice was slightly muffled from the bandana. Eventually they had backed up far enough that their backs were against the vehicle. For about a minute they just stood there, awaiting their execution. I was purposely waiting for them to make a move, as for a split second they'd be more vulnerable, and it was fucking hilarious sometimes. I soon realized that Ruby was waiting for me to speak up, so I obliged.

"'Ya wanna know why we're doing this red? Because we gain something from it, simple as that." She then said something along the lines of 'who are you working for' in which I then told her to 'fuck off'. It was at this moment she made a very stupid move. It all played out in almost slow motion.

She quickly turned and tried to raise her weapon, shouting at her team. "FREEZER BU-!" In which she was quickly cut off as a sniper round passed through her chest. The shot had completely broken and penetrated her aura at the same time. A cloud of pink mist formed behind her as her knees buckled and hit the ground. Told 'ya Sierra had her. My hand shot up in an open palm position.

The rest of her team looked on wide eyed before Yang was lit a' blaze. "YOU BASTARD!" She was about to launch herself at us, when my hand closed into a fist. Martinez activated the charge he'd planted on the hood of the truck, the blast quickly engulfing them into a ball of flame. My team didn't hesitate to open fire as well. As their figures were lost in the ensuing explosion, we lit that wreck up with everything inside our guns, nothing could be left behind.

Like that, the shooting stopped. The wreck burned away, even lighting some of the trees on fire. Seeing no reason to stick around we got the hell out of there, with our dear friend in tow. His white coat now stained with dirt and grime, and his thick bushy beard now all messy from the scrap, but he was ours. We tried to move in closer to confirm the kill, the smoke had other ideas though. Not wanting to stick around, we began following the pre-established LZ. With our objective complete I radioed in. "Big Eye this is Predator, Architect is secure and on the move, out."

That burning vehicle was a literal smoke signal to anybody else left in the AO, by now I could imagine the Covenant already sending Ghost's our way. We needed to get the hell 'outta here, we'd blown a lot of our time and security.

"Big Eye copies all Predator, extraction is on standby at the LZ."

Just gotta take a quick hike.

 **50 Hours Earlier**

I had made my way to the base of the mountain range, using some crude first aid, I'd mended my injuries. For the most part at least, my body still aches but I'd felt worse. Maybe I should consider retirement soon? My body can only do this so long, I'd been fighting the Covenant from my early twenties, well into my thirties. Which by the survival expectancy of an officer, let alone in my field of work, was almost unheard of. No…I couldn't just dip out now, as nice as that would be. Just had to survive a little longer…Just survive.

I began walking along a dirt road towards the, still unnamed, city. A 3 mile walk was around the distance needed to get there. Plenty of wildlife too, if I was lucky I could keep my spirits up and not attract many. I'm not exactly a ball of sunshine though, It'd be best if I just kept my thoughts quiet.

So I walked.

And walked.

And walked.

For what felt like ages I continued on the path, nothing but snow and trees. The distant mountains seemingly taunting me, that's when the growling began. I could see them, circling me like vultures, ever so afraid to approach though. Beowulves, but not the kind I'd encountered in Vale, oh no. These ones were smaller, maybe a foot and a half then their more common brethren. Thicker fur encased their bodies, and their claws were shorter, but definitely sharper. No too mention that their fur was also white, from what I'd heard these creatures adapted the longer they lived. Meaning this whole pack must've been old.

Their were about 8 of them, on all fours pacing back and forth from the sides of the road, none dared venture onto it yet. They were sizing me up, as I did them. They looked more like oversized wolves than their counterparts, more so than a regular Beowulf. They had numbers though, if it were a few I could handle it, but this wasn't looking good. An unfamiliar feeling of fear washed over me. I kept one hand on my pistol, which was still holstered, and another on my blade.

They began growing in confidence, slowly stepping onto the trail. Growling and baring their teeth at me. The leader, barking, literally, orders at the rest of the muts. Then the first one pounced. A single one on my left had jumped the gun and leaped early, as it flew forward in the air towards me I shot it. Stepping out of the way it went limp mid-air and landed past me. With the element of surprise gone, another one sprinted forward and opened its mouth to rip my throat out.

As it tackled me to the ground, the beast opened its wide jaw and closed the distance to kill me. I stabbed my knife into the top of its mouth, the pain instinctively causing it to snap it's jaw shut. Only causing the blade to sink in further and kill it, as it began disappearing I rolled onto my stomach and fired at a pair trying to move up on me. The rounds hit their mark but didn't kill it instantly like the first one had suffered. I quickly moved to one knee and picked my knife off the ground, with 4 left they still had 360 degrees of coverage on me.

The leader barked once more and it almost seemed to glare at me with purpose. As if it were analyzing me, only for me to here the rapid sounds of snow being crunched behind me. I turned around, and trying to conserve ammo, readied my knife. Only for the Beowulf to fake me out and stop dead in its tracks. The move caught me off guard as a sudden force nailed me from behind and I was on the floor again. I then felt my upper body being thrashed and soon realized that the fucking thing had sunk its teeth into the armor around my shoulder. A quick elbow stunned the thing as I took hold of it and flipped over so I was on top and it was on its back. I then planted my boat on its throat and looked up for threats.

As soon as I did so the leader slammed into me and began chomping down. As my foot was taken of the other Beowulf's neck, it pounced as well. At that moment I had 2 of them on top of me, 2 slightly oversized wolves were about to kill me. My forearm held them back as I grabbed my pistol again with my other, it had only fallen a few feet away, and within grabbing distance. Only for a third to come in and bite down on my other arm as I reached out for it, these fuckers were smart alright.

Mustering up what little strength I had, I practically hurled the third one across the dirt road and brought up my fist. Punching the second one on top of me across the jaw to stun it, then grabbing my SOCOM and firing 3 shots into it's stomach, killing it quickly. Twisting my body over I brought my blade up and stabbed the leader right through the eye, dead as a motherfucker. I looked up once again, blood staining my armor, some theirs, some mine, to see a cowardly wolf. The last one left, he hadn't engaged at all in the hunt and was backing up slowly. Must've been a younger one then, I holstered my weapon and began walking away, the lone wolf quickly running off. I had a mag and a half left, I'd have to avoid any more fights if I wanted to live.

My walk had just begun and I was already taking hits, not a good sign. If possible, I'd take a transport by any means necessary.

With that in mind I began limping on my way.

 **51 Hour Later - The Present**

"W-Why are you doing this, don't you see the bigger threat at hand!?" Geppetto was stuttering and anxiously spitting out the words. He'd been complaining ever since we started moving, at this point it was becoming a liability. Normally I'd just have one of my guys break a rib or two, but given how fragile and old he was… I'm afraid I'll kill him.

"Stuff it old man or I'll gag 'ya, just keep walking." We'd cuffed him quickly, he wasn't going to pull anything. Our hike had reached its last stretch, as we'd been going for about an hour now. That's when a fit of radio static filled my earpiece. So loud in fact, I nearly tossed the thing across the forest. Containing myself I adjusted the frequency on my radio. "PREDATOR DO YOU READ!" The Major had broken radio silence again, better be good. "Y-yea we read you, Jesus you scar-" He cut me off mid sentence. "No time, you've got a large hostile force from the West, ONI just called it in!" His voice lowered in volume, honoring my wishes, but his tone never changed. The message had been broadcasted on all my teams radios.

"Copy, we'll handle it!" I cut the line and grabbed Geppetto, he tried to shake my hand off his shoulder, but a quick punch to the kidney halted the action. "Shut the fuck up, and stay the fuck down." I whispered in his ear before rushing over to an overturned, hollow, tree trunk. Then, kicking his legs out from under him so he was on his knees and shoving my SOCOM barrel into his nose ordered him too, "Climb inside. Now."

He did as told and hid inside, at which my team had already set up in firing positions. The terrain was sloped but thick with trees and bush, we were about half way up the hill, with only a couple hundred meters to go after hitting the top. Not exactly the worst place to be, but definitely not the best. With enemies coming from the West, they'd be on the same level with us. If we could, we'd try and avoid engaging them. Everyone found concealed positions, under stacks of dirt, under logs, behind trees, anything. Last thing we wanted right now was a firefight.

What we didn't expect, were the 'hostiles' command warned us about, to be the remains of the Atlas battalion stationed on the base. Guess they finally had to retreat, this would make things more complicated. They came out of the treeline and didn't seem to notice us, as we were deep in the bush at this point. They were currently occupying a small clearing on the hill, had to be at least 30 - 40 of them. "Big Eye, we got lot's of whiteheads down 'ere. Please fucking advise!?" I hissed out over comms. My team didn't need the word, they were already taking aim, as was I. In the small time the UNSC had been here, the Marines had taken up to calling Atlas soldiers 'whiteheads' as a reference to the massive helmets they wore.

"Uhhhh...Fuck...Predator, you are given full authorization to engage as necessary. Covenant will just burn the area anyway." I brought my right hand down from my ear and to the trigger of my weapon. My shotgun locked onto my back, I brought up my BR55. "Standby, wait for my shot and my shot alone, if they spot you though… You get it." The soldiers were huffing and puffing as they'd just completely ran the entire way, I assume. We could faintly hear their voices as they grew closer. "O-oh fuck, oh shit man. Whadda we do now man… Fuck they got Geppetto to dude, we lost contact with the convoy!?" Came from the one of them. As all of them began approaching our position they started curving up the hill, creating some high ground. "Let 'em pass." I whispered to my team.

As much as I hated to admit it, these guys were outnumbering us and outgunning us. Don't care how good you are, in conditions like this, you don't even want to fight that one. As the group began inching closer I heard them more clearly. "Doesn't matter now, we just gotta regroup with the rest of our guys at Atlas, heard those new guys finally broke through." The one who seemed in charge turned around in disgust. "Would you all shut up, those fuckers are the ones who brought these aliens here. Now shut the fuck up and keep moving, they're still on our tail." The group went quiet as they continued walking past us.

A few however, broke off from the group. Just coming down close enough that they could probably jump tackle any one of us. The group continued past, as my team stayed hidden. That's when the last man caught glimpse of a very familiar white-coat in a tree trunk. Not wanting to waste anyone's time, he approached to investigate. Martinez, being the sly fucker he is, was laying down in a patch of tall grass near him. As the soldier got closer and closer Martinez moved to a crouched position. As the soldier confirmed his suspicion and went to alert his group, a smile of desperate hope and joy spread across his face. Only to be replaced with shock and confusion as his turning head spotted me behind a tree. At this very moment, his face changed once again to that of silenced pain. Martinez had quickly spruing up from the grass and plunged his knife into the guys neck, covering his mouth with his free hand.

The man's eyes widened before his legs went limp and Martinez dragged his corpse into the grass along with him, both vanishing together. With the group now out of sight and still on their way out of here I radioed in. "Big Eye, I'm gonna need that ride out. Intel suggests we've got Covenant moving in here soon." As my team left their hiding spots and began walking up the hill, we could see the LZ. A small clearing in the ever growing forest. "Solid copy Predator, we've got extraction coming in now, ETA 30 seconds."

"Alright everyone, LZ perimeter, VIP protection." The team began setting up a 360 degree perimeter around the clearing. At the same time, our Falcon came in low that it was barely above the trees. I slung my rifle against my hip and pulled out a thick, black bag from my belt. Spreading the bag open I quickly put it over Geppetto's head. He struggled and tried to take it off, making plenty noise in the process, only for me to give a quick jab to the side in order to shut jim up. After his little fit I began moving him towards extraction, the Falcon had moved into a low hover, practically touching the ground in fact.

As I moved to the edge of the chopper I lifted him up slightly and shoved him aboard. As I loaded up with him, I found a nice seat in which to strap him into, he'd be right in the middle of us for extra protection. "Let's go gentleman." With that my team loaded up into the Falcon as quickly as possible and finished off with a headcount. I radioed into the pilot that everyone was here, and he was happy to send us up.

Before we knew it we were on our way out, nobody shot at us as we left, and nobody even noticed. It wasn't exactly quick or clean, but we got the job done without raising any suspicion. Within 2 hour Geppetto would be in UNSC hands and sent of to some ONI black site God knows where. He'd be living the rest of his life working for them now, under a loaded gun no less.

I let my head rest against the seat and my eyes began sputtering closed under my shades.

Sleep would be nice.

 **15 Hours Earlier**

What was once expected to be a few hour long trip, turned into nearly 2 days worth of attacks, skirmishes, and wasted ammo. I was forced in and off the path more times than I could count, eventually I broke through.

I peered over a the peek of a cliff. Day had finally broke through the winter storm, and in front of me I saw it. That damned city, wedged between 2 cliffs and a massive wall protecting its front, with only the sea to its back. I could see hundreds if not thousands of Covenant troops laying siege to the city. Alongside them, dozens of armored divisions followed, raining hate on the city's walls.

I drew my SOCOM and pulled back the slide to inspect the chamber. So long as I wasn't dead, I'd keep going. The best I could hope for was that an Atlas soldier didn't get to trigger happy and shoot me the moment I show up.

I began walking down the side of the cliff and towards the battle.

This was gonna be a really long week.

 **15 Hours Later - The Present**

A sudden jolt woke me from my sleep, as my eyes opened I saw the covered face of Deruld. His hand on my shoulder and very stern wrinkle on his brow under his shades. "Wake up man, we're about to land." True to his words, the Falcon began lowering towards the helipads of the FOB. I looked around and saw my team eagerly waiting to get off this damned thing, Geppetto was sitting still with a bag over his head, someone had zip-tied his hands together. Guess he was more of a trouble maker than I thought.

The base was surging with life, squads ran from place to place, all while logistics personnel seemed more focus on taking inventory. Some of the off-duty individuals, seemed more interested in our ride rather than themselves. A few spectators gathered around the pad as we hit it. Eager to see what an unmarked chopper was doing here, among them however, was a single group that stood out more than the others. A bright colored 4 person group, what did Reeves say they were, JPRN?...JNPR! That was them. Maybe word had gotten back about their friends, maybe not, could only guess at this point honestly. We grabbed Geppetto and Martinez began guiding him around, what, with the zip-ties and bag over his head.

"I'm sure this will start turning into a party real soon. Onyx, keep moving and leave any talking to me." They all nodded as we loaded off the Falcon, as we did so, its rotors spun up and it flew off. We walked down a small ramp from the platform, a larger crowd was beginning to form-I could hear their whispers.

"Who the hell are these guys?"

"I ain't ever seen that kit before."

"They bagged a person, who the hell could that be?

"Saw 'em early today, all cool 'n' shit. Just came out of nowhere, loaded up, and flew away."

As we pushed forward I lead the VIP diamond. Martinez was in the middle of all of us with our buddy in tow. One Hand on his shoulder, the other pressing the barrel of a pistol against his back. Out of all the people, one stepped forward, a Captain maybe. Possibly a company commander, he stood in front of me, with a bald head and shades covering his eyes, same as us. With a water bottle in his hand her pointed in a circular motion to all of us, out of the corner of my eye I saw JNPR pushing to the front of the crowd. A certain redhead catching the eyes of most the men, if she wasn't careful, these guys would try and stick their dicks in her faster than a cheerleader on the pill.

I shook that disturbing thought out of my head and looked at him, dirt and grime all over his face. Patches of sweat under his arms were present as he put both hands on his hips. "So uh… What exactly you got there?" He pointed towards our catch. I rolled my shoulders and looked down at him. "Classified, move sir," He was still a higher rank than me, entitling him to my 'respect', but he needed to fucking move. He just smirked and looked at his men in return, their battle weary and sweaty faces turned to smiles.

"I really don't think you're in a position to make demands, who the fuck do you think you are." The men around him began smiling at the dispute, to which I put my hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly. I pulled him close and leaned over slightly, I began whispering into his ear as I pulled down my bandana a bit to speak. "Look motherfucker, we just greased a lotta guys to grab this dude, so if you wanna be the next one in our way be my guest." He whispered back. "Was that a threat?" I pushed him away slightly and looked him the eyes, the crowd had gone dead silent enough that even my whisper might be heard. So I moved my mouth to his ear again. "We work with ONI." With that he pulled himself back and looked at me wide eyed.

Without loosing his gaze upon me he addressed his men. "Return to duties… Disperse." The Marines all let out a slight gasp and the whispering began again. The CO spoke up one more time for emphasis. "I said fucking disperse Marines!" They didn't need a 3rd warning. As they did so however, a Bullhead came down towards the landing pads, and I could faintly see a crew of… Someone, I'm not sure, rush towards it. Didn't matter, we kept moving towards the Command tent and didn't look back.

We opened up the flap of the large tent and practically threw the poor bastard on the ground. The Major looked up from his table and maps, only to approach the old man on his knees. Behind the Grant was a 3 man team of ONI Operatives, they didn't have any insignia but I could tell. These must've been the scout team, they sure as shit got back fast.

"Well hello there buddy, this is gonna be fun…" The Major looked up to me and my team before continuing. "... First Sergeant, you and your team are dismissed, you don't wanna see this. Get changed back into uniform, we've got something for you." With that he turned around and nodded towards the Operatives. 2 of which, approached and grabbed a side each, before lifting him up and moving him God knows where.

We exited the tent and I gave a last order before we wrapped up. "You heard him, get dressed… But make sure no one knows who you are." With that, Onyx team began moving towards the armory, well… Everyone except me. I was off to see about that Bullhead, something wasn't right, I didn't trust it.

 **That's a wrap on the 10th Chapter, I cannot thank you enough for the continued support of this series. We've recently hit over 6,000 views, which is insane. I really want to give back to you guys which is why I'm hoping to do a Q &A**

 **Please PM me your questions, doesn't even need to be about the story, or put it in a review. If we have enough, the next chapter will be a Q &A.**

 **Now don't worry too much about the direction of the story, I have a clear end in mind and we're going to be reaching the endgame soon. Onyx team won't just be killing off characters willy nilly, and I promise you that I won't go full Game of Thrones on you guys.**

 **With that being said, please leave a review as it always helps me become better at my craft.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	12. Q&A 2

Q&A

Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

 **Aight so this is our second Q &A and I honestly didn't get that many questions so I'm not sure if that means I'm doing good or ya'll have lost interest so here we go. These questions will be spending the ones asked from the last few chapters.**

 **ODSTFRymann** **Q** :Will Reeves be back in the next chapter and also rwby better not be dead

A: While that's a spoiler question, all I can say is that his story definitely done. Onyx team will be reunited but not under the best of conditions. I will flat out say this so if you want to continue the story without this then ***SPOILER AHEAD***

RWBY does indeed live, I wouldn't kill them off just like that. I simple used it more as a way to show that everybody is vulnerable in my story. Really good question though.

 **NlaEid Q** :I'm afraid that you'll abandon this one. It might happen though and as long as you give a proper explanation I'll be happy.

A: I am in no way prepared to end this story. I have a clear beginning, middle, and end in mind. This will not be like most stories that just go on forever, I'll say this though. We are nearing the end.

 **Guest Q** : Poor Winter...welp it's a question of survival in the end, should have know they didn't tell them about that little problem with dust, I wonder if they will ever find out about the relics, great chapter btw, this is easily the best crossover I read in awhile, always glad when aura isn't overpowered like everyone else does, keep going!

A: If you wondering this comment is regarding Chapter 9 in which Onyx team conducts a classified infiltration and sabotage of an Atlas military research facility. As for the action of killing Winter, I felt it was necessary to further the image of Onyx and the UNSC. It was used to show the differences between Remnant and the UNSC, if you actually look back you'll see the small details I left in to further illustrate the differences in the 2. As for the Relics, I wouldn't hold your breath for an appearance, maybe a mention. This story is meant to be gritty and grounded, the inclusion of mystical relics would only ruin that theme… Sorry. I also hate when people overpower aura so I didn't necessary nerf it just showed its limits. I don't care how strong your aura is, if a bullet is hitting you a speeds beyond that of sound it'll fuck you up.

 **Roboman Q** : ...Holy shit…

A: Yeah… That chapter was pretty intense. (Chapter 9)

 **I hope y'all enjoyed this quick Q &A, as I post this the next chapter will be uploaded soon so stay on the lookout. Remember, if you PM something I will always respond, so if you want your voice heard or direct input, PM me.**

 **As always, I'll write to you all in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 11 The Calvary Coming Down

Chapter 11

The Calvary Coming Down

 _BANG_ "Too high." _BANG_ "You're level, but you're veering to the right." _BANG._ A silence fell on the range as Martinez looked down the spotter scope to the target 600 meters out. "I'mma be real witchu, that shit was disgusting." I let my rifle lay against the small firing table. The range was makeshift at best, just a long road that had been walled off, with targets running down it at certain distances.

My head turned and I looked at Martinez, who was only sighing nervously. "Been a while…" I let out my own sigh, my thoughts peered off to the events of earlier today. Before I knew it, I was back in that medical tent.

 _I had pushed past more Marines than I thought would care about the Bullhead, eventually the crowd got so thick that I figured to just ask someone. As soon as that thing had landed, surgeons were on scene, carting off critically injured personnel. No one knew who, but from what I heard, it wasn't one of ours. I grabbed the shoulder of a young looking Marine and turned him around, his dog tags hung loosely from his dark neck and his plain green shirt was stained with dried blood and circles of sweat. "The fuck is going on, who the hell got carted off?"_

 _He scratched the back of his head. Lightly moving his fuzzy, regulation, cut head. "Dunno man, from what I'm hearing, its civilians but some are saying Huntsman-beats me." I nodded and gave an affirmative 2 finger salute before carrying on. The medical staff soon cleared everyone out, but I slipped through no problem. If I was still wearing my unmarked gear I'd be a dead give away, but I was lucky to of at least changed before coming here._

 _I walked through the flaps of the tent, and what I saw almost made me gasp._

 _On 4 operating table, with a shit ton of surgeons per bed mind you, were 4 teenage girls. Each in their own unique and brightly colored outfits, but bloody nonetheless. The colors started at white, then down to yellow, then black, and as I walked along the line of tables I hit the last one. In the last table lay a dying, 15 year old girl named Ruby, her red outfit not hiding the blood pooling of the side of it. One arm lay limp off its edge while a team of 6 surgeons, and an acquired doctor, rushed around._

 _As I looked closer from behind I could spot the injury, all had faint burn marks from the explosion of the truck, but Ruby had gaping hole in her chest, a hole we'd put there. Her eyes closed and face contorted into almost a look of tranquility._

 _I walked back up the line and examined the rest, Blake had a bullet lodged in her stomach, and multiple gashes along her shoulders and possibly back from the shrapnel. More disturbingly, she was conscious, well at least for a moment. As the medical staff tried to sedate her, she continued fighting back until they had to strap her down. She just kept screaming until the drugs kicked in._

 _Second-to-last was Yang, she had gotten the worst of the explosion, her own power turning against her as her aura had broke in the last few fateful seconds. Burn marks were left in large blots on her back, but worst of all, she had a broken arm and multiple fractures. Her arm had almost been completely bent the opposite way, I could see the bone sticking out. For the first time in a long time, I forced myself not to cringe._

 _Finally was Weiss, she'd taken the least from it. I say that lightly because you could be hit by a car and you'd be in a better condition than these chicks. Weiss had been flown forward from the explosion and was suffering from internal damage, bleeding, all that shit. From what I heard a doctor say, 'it was like someone had played pinball with her organs.'_

 _Typically I would be mentally ready with shit like this, I'd of already been in my 'zone', but there was no preparation for this. By no means did I feel guilty, but I just wished she hadn't tried to be a hero. Who was I kidding though? The moment we took this mission we practically signed their death certificates, I would be surprised if they survived. I made my way out of the tent before stopping outside the entrance and pulling out a pack of dipping tobacco. Flicking my wrist 2 times and hearing the reassuring click of the pack. I took my index finger and dug it under the substance before breaking off a sizable pinch with my thumb. I shook the pinch a bit before applying it to the corner of my gums and closing mouth. Using my mouth I spread it out across the gums and spit a few seconds later._

" _So you one've those dip guys huh?" I wasn't startled by the new voice, I turned to my right and saw a man in full combat gear leaning against a stack of crates, one leg propped up against it as well. He wasn't a Marine, that was for sure, he was wearing more specialized gear than the ground pounders ever would even touch. That's not even counting his camo, which was an old woodland design that you only ever see once every few years. "Yeah… And you'd be?" My voice was slightly muffled and out of tune as the dip was still in action on my gums._

 _The person in question only chuckled and inspected the floor slightly. His thick brown beard hiding the wide smile on his face. "Well first of all my names Teri, Technical Sergeant in my Pararescue team. We were the guys who pulled those kids out." He pointed at the tent in question, I could still catch a glimpse of them though the flapping tent entrance. My head shot back to Teri with a confused face, I thought we were the only UNSC elements out there? "Yeah I know, crazy right? Most PJ guys have been working with Remnant's Armed Forces lately, even heard some guys were down in Vacuo, pulling guys out of the desert." I nodded and walked towards him in a friendly manner._

" _How'd you find 'em?" He simply waved his hand in return and rolled his shoulders before looking back at me. "We were doing some rescue work in a town a couple miles South of where we found 'em. Atlas guys heard a distress call and seeing as we're the closest to 'em… We loaded up into a Bullhead and got on our way." He paused for a second before continuing. "By the time we reached the call… All the Atlas security forces had been killed by Covenant clean up crews." His voice got a little more shaky and his face flinched with each word. As if recalling a terrible memory. "On… On our way out we saw the smoke and grabbed those kids… 'Ya know I've seen some fucked up shit in my line of work but nothin' like that." I could begin feeling my heartbeat in my temples and throat. "When we picked 'em up they were MUCH worse than they are now, had one of our medics do his best on the flight home. I mean they're just kids, caught up in a war they were never meant to even know about. I know a lot of these grunts see them as a nuisance but their just children… Jesus man."_

 _A long pause of silence filled the air between us. 2 different sides of a story. 2 different mindsets. 2 different missions. That was before he racked the bolt on his AR and started making his way towards the same Bullhead he'd arrived in. "You just gonna leave like that man?" He looked back and smiled one more time. "Sorry, got another call. Hopefully this one won't be as bad." Like that he hopped onboard the aircraft alongside a team of 3 other PJ's, all with oxygen mask covering their faces._

"Besides Luco, you know I can bench more than you." I patted him on the shoulder and winked at the same time. His face contorted into anger. "Okay, but you know that's not far right? Like those are 2 completely unrelated things." I stood up and began walking towards our bunks. I heard his feet rush towards me as I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hey 'Coop, you sure you okay? That missions been bothering you hasn't it."

I hesitated slightly, thinking over my next few words carefully. "No… Just worrying about what the Major's got for us in mind." He seemed satisfied with that answer, a loud screeching came in over head afterwards. We looked to the sky only to catch a glimpse of a squadron of Longswords zooming over the FOB real low. It'd only really been 3 days but the UNSC was taking this city inch by inch.

Distant artillery fire with the sporadic cracks of gunshots was all you could hear at night. Even with the base being on the edge of the city limits, you couldn't help but feel like the war was just a few feet away from you. Attacks and raids were commonplace though, meaning that the fighting often was close to home. The 2 of us continued walking through the base and eventually found ourselves near a guard post at the entrance of the FOB. A pair of Marines sat inside a small security building, surveying the main road leading inside.

By now the sun had begun setting, its rays of lights cascading against the sea to our backs. A light snowfall was beginning, nothing much, but a certain reminder of the place we'd been fighting in. I could hear the radio chatter from all over the base, medical staff getting reports from fireteams, gun batteries getting coordinates for indirect fire, and of course plenty of air support requests. You could be half a kilometer away and probably still hear all of it.

Out of all the chatter, a single voice stood out. An officer screaming to the security gate to get medics ready for a fuck ton of patience. "Spectre, our convoy's been hit, we are RTB with critically wounded!" Spectra was the designated name of the FOB, from the sounds of it though, we may have to get out of the way. Hearing the call me and Martinez ran off the road quickly. "Be advised, grid 009286 is overrun and our positions are unattainable, we are falling the fuck back!" That call came from a different source. At that very same moment, 8 artillery batteries fired. Not 8 guns mind you, but 8 batteries, with 6 guns each. In that very moment 48 rounds were flung at enemy positions.

As the thunderous booms of the guns faded into the air, a bright light came down from the road. As I moved to see what it was, a 5 Warthog convoy rushed by, leaving me to inhale the dust left behind. Martinez and I exchanged a look of understanding, before sprinting off to where the Hog's went to. Turns out not very far, they pulled in past the helipads and stopped just in the main courtyard. As we arrived on scene, I could see the plasma burns and cauterized holes in the vehicles. The seats and broken windshields stained with fresh blood.

We ran over and began lifting Marines out of cars, some missing limbs, some with massive holes in their bodies, and some covered in burns. Before we knew it more and more Marines were running out of their tents to help, and as we began moving the wounded inside the medical tent a blaring alarm came to life inside the base. The PA system telling everyone to grab their weapons and be on alert. Almost the moment Martinez and I layed a wounded Marine, who's face had been half burned off, a loud explosion rocked the camp.

I nodded for Martinez to go while I took care of our friend here. The medical technicians were racing back and forth from patient to patient and I called one over. She quickly sedated him and his screaming slowed as his breathes steadied out. As I began jogging towards the exit I caught glimpse of RWBY. They were stabilized and had been moved to cots in the recovery area. I then ran outside to see the motor pool, just near the end of the main road leading in and out of the FOB, on fire. As I looked around some more I saw a pair of plasma mortars flying high over the base's walls. They soared through the air, slightly illuminating the ground below them with a dreadful blue glow. Only to impact the concrete a few seconds later and turn it into molten slag.

The resulting shockwave rocking the ground and causing me to stumble and duck for cover. Out of the corner of my eye, a squad of Marines entered stage right from the barracks. They ran past the burning motor pool and towards the walls of the FOB. Then more and more Marines ran to the defense of the base, mortar pits began firing, and TACP was coordinating air support. My eyes were constantly adjusting from light to dark, tracers lit up the night as machine gunners found their posts.

A quick tap on the shoulder brought me out of my trance, Martinez alongside the rest of Onyx was behind me. In his hands were a plate carrier and BR55, both being shoved into my face quickly. I didn't wait another second to throw it on, strapping myself in and slinging my rifle over my shoulder. "Alright let's get to work." I didn't need to do to much in the way of leading them. Deruld found a nice perch on top of a small building to start ripping open bodies with the SAW, Sierra and Martinez climbed up to one of the guard towers to drop bodies, meanwhile the rest of us just found a wall and started shooting in the dark.

With a majority of our guys still in their boxers we didn't have access to our NVG's, making this that much more harder. The game plan was to just hold the walls as long as possible until air support arrived and began strafing runs. As I approached a firing step a poor man in front of me took a hit. As he hit the ground a dull grey spike was embedded in his shoulder. Blood began seeping out of the wound as he writhed on the ground in pain, his free hand holding the point of injury. A member of his fireteam dropped down from the ledge and began yelling over the guy's constant screeches of agony. He yelled and yelled for a medic and one soon appeared, by then the Marine had gone into shock and stopped screaming, it wasn't long before they dragged him away.

I climber on top and layed my rifle flat against the barrier, each Wraith volley slightly illuminated the infantry around it. Allowing for me to catch a quick glimpse of enemy positions for a shot. And so it continued like that for nearly an hour, they fired, we fired. Eventually we stalled their assault so much that we began tracing their plasma stream back to their persons. It wasn't all good though, with them to far away and fire missions ineffective without someone spotting, we had a stalemate. I caught a glimpse of the air control parties fighting with their radios so I decided to stop b, do remember that we are still being shot at. "What's the hold up guys. We've got at least a whole companies worth of bad guys out their." The guy who seemed like he was in command waved his subordinates off before handing me a flare. "Would you like 'ta do the honors." I simply looked at him with confusion. He nodded before answering, "Air support needs us to mark our position for 'em. Their using thermals to spot targets but it's a clusterfuck down here." I nodded slowly before grabbing the top of said flare and twisting it violently. It soon ignited in which I then threw it down to the ground, marking our position.

Almost immediately I heard a female voice come in over his radio. "Be advised Fox actual we have confirmed visual contact on your location. Beginning gun run, keep 'yer heads down." Before i knew it I began hearing explosions coming from over the wall and very large tracer rounds ricocheting into the sky. All alongside the oh so familiar sound that I need not repeat for the hundredth time, you know what it sounds like. As the firing stopped and all that was left in its wake was ash and brimstone I looked up into the sky. The fires of destroyed enemy vehicles glowed just enough to catch its outline as it swooped by, an A-26 Skyhawk.

All around our defenses you could hear the cheering of the men, some even whistled loudly as the Skyhawk disappeared into the night sky. The air control commander gave me a quick nod, which was respectfully returned. With that out of the way I decided to start moving towards the bunks. Not to sleep mind you, but to atleast get dressed in more than just my grey BDU pants and a very badly matched green combat shirt. As I safetied my rifle and began walking towards my lot of the base, I could see platoon commanders shouting at their men as probably our last few hogs came in through the path. "Let's move, we just lost the East side of the city, battalion is oscar mike." Marines promptly loaded up into Warthogs and even a few tanks were being diverted from the 10th armored from what I heard.

By now we had bases all over the city, our base, FOB Spectre was acting as a command/control center for all other operation in Atlas now. Though, I'm pretty sure I figured that out already, guess now it was official. We had people from 5th Marines stationed here, 2nd Marines to the West, and the unlucky bastard of the 1st Marines on the front lines. Of course though, that left one open slot, the 12th Marines were stationed on the East, don't know how many, must've been a lot though to hold that grid. Covenant's been pounding the hell out of that part for days.

I finally reached our tent and quickly changed out of my comfortable combat shirt and into something more useful. The dense fabric of the grey BDU to felt like the inside of a silky jacket, which always irritated my arms quite a bit. With my top on I threw my rig overtop, making sure everything was in order and that nothing fell out. Lucky for me, everything was secured neatly. Next up was my helmet, the network comm link was still functioning which was a blessing. The thing was attached to the side of the helmet and bumped into everything, don't know how Reeves never complained about it… Then again, he never complained about anything.

As if the world had finally senses my relaxation, the PA system came alive. Making the already noisy night a louder one. "Onyx team report to the command tent in 30 minutes, Onyx to the command tent in 30 minutes" I let my head drop in defeat, nearly 3 assignments in a row. Jesus, was every other team taking a piss or something!?

I clipped my helmet to my side and grabbed my shotgun from on top my cot. I locked the weapon into place before tightening the sling around my neck. At least I wouldn't have to hunt my team down for the briefing, they'd be there on time-like always.

As I walked around the base to kill time, under the lights from various structures, I passed by the infirmary again. To my surprise though, the 4 teens in mind were looking better than before. Ruby had regained consciousness alongside her sister and Blake. Weiss though, she was out like a light, I could tell she was at least okay because her snoring was loud enough to put most tanks to shame. I approached the 3 and sat down on a bed parallel to them. I sighed and crossed my arms in a serious manner, crossing my legs as they extended out against the hard concrete ground, they all looked at me with suspicion and shame in their eyes.

"So… You're not dead huh?" Yang looked at me quizzically while Ruby just flat out hung her head in embarrassment. Failing a mission was never something one wanted to carry around with them, it's why I feel so bad they had to go against us, but they didn't know that. "What's that supposed to mean?" The blonde asked defensively. I raised my arms in a sign of peace, more of a way to convey that I wasn't taunting them. "Relax there fireball… I'm only here to check up on you guys. You know I was one of the first people who saw you when you were… 'Ya know." My right arm went up along with my left as they both twitched erratically to signify their injury. Surprisingly Ruby and Yang laughed, while Blake just tried to hide a grin. "You guys have such a messed up sense of humour." I simply nodded while chuckling slightly. "Yes… Yes we do." No need to explain the reason behind that one.

"So...Cooper was is? Why'd you come here, not to be rude or anything, we weren't exactly on the best terms with you guys?" I shrugged my shoulders in a 'your kinda right' gesture. "Yeah… Well we certainly are 2 polar opposites, 2 different sides of a field. But that doesn't mean I can't at least care about your guy's survival." They smiled at the gesture, but Blake just squinted at me. "Which is why I'm also here to tell you all to just stand back for a bit." Their expressions turned on a dime from appreciative to hateful. "What, first Reeves now you?! You can't keep us from defending our own world!" Which came from Ruby of all people, who seemed more furious than ever at the idea of standing on the sidelines. "I get it, you've all dedicated your lives to the protection of your people, but… You can't protect them anymore. Not without our help, our chain of command has a niche for you guys I promise. That other team, JNPR, just got sent on a S&D mission last night I think?" That seemed to calm them down a bit. "Look… I get it, I felt the same way when my world was destroyed by these same guys." My thumb pointed over my shoulder, the Covenant being the meaning of course. "But the UNSC, Reeves, and I, are only doing this to help preserve your people." A complete lie, we had no interest in protecting Remnant the civilization it held. The whole reason we were here was resources, now we're just here to grab as much of their knowledge as possible and dip.

"Reeves was one of the toughest son of a bitches I ever knew, that man had most of his life covered in so much black ink that even I couldn't trace him down." Now that statement was true, before I transferred from ONI, I had run with him on a few deniable ops. I got interested on who he was and searched through ONI's records, which I had legal access to most files, and found next to nothing. Other than he joined the Corps near the outbreak of the war when he was 19 and survived 2 UNSC blunders before being given a chance to become Force Recon. The rest was all black, so you could say we had a history. "But he still can't beat the battlefield, no one can. Our training allows us to tip the scales in our favour and even then a stray bullet can end it all, but you guys have just gotten lucky. You wouldn't of made it out of Vale if it weren't for us, we had to hold your hand all the way through the rescue mission in the mountains, and the one time you guys get sent out on your own… You nearly come back in body bags." They went to protest them but my hand rose to silence them. "Ruby: multiple bruises from projectiles and a sniper wound in the chest. Yang: severe burn marks along the upper back and shoulders, with a broken arm. Blake: multiple deep cuts along the shoulders and forearms alongside a bullet lodged in stomach." I took a breath to silence myself, no need to do Weiss,they got the point. "Those were your medical reports, do you know that you guys were nearly pronounced dead 3 times, 3 fucking times!" They seemed to sink into their beds even further. Ruby brought a hand to her chest while another came to her forehead. Yang ran her free hand against the cast she'd been placed in, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine though, they'd be back up in maybe a few more days. Blake just kept staring at me, which lead me to my next point.

"We nearly lost one of our guys too recently, guy named Jones. A spike went right into his chest, nearly killed him… What I'm trying to say is that you guys can still help your world, but there are just some things you can't do." I wasn't just saying this because I was trying to sound nice, I was genuinely trying to protect them. If they kept taking missions like the one before hand, one of our black ops teams would finish them off sooner or later. "The gunmen… They wore these weird black on brown uniforms and covered their faces… But they had your weapons." I leaned forward after Blake finally spoke up, I'd have to be careful here. "My weapons?" Did she mean my teams specialized loadouts or just UNSC weapons, there was a big difference. "UNSC guns… We didn't stand a chance… You know Reeves shot me with his rifle the first time we met. Those things hit harder than most of the stuff we have here, so yeah it was definitely your guns."

"Yeah, they tossed in a flashbang into the truck and then we hopped out to find 'em. " Came from Ruby, but up next was her big sister. "They were way more organized than most of the thugs we run into… They moved in formation and never even let us get close. It felt like we were getting hit from all directions and the constant gunfire only threw us off more." Her words became faster and faster as she began hyperventilating, Ruby was capable of cooling her off though as she finished her sentence. "Thugs don't steal scientists.

I crossed my arms again, this was a tricky situation. Just do what you always did back in ONI, make a reasonable sufficient excuse. "Tech's spreading quickly, we've gotten news that a few of our supply chains had been hit so… I imagine they started getting around." A half-truth, our supply chains had been attacked by a group of White Fang still trying to prove something. "Thought it's more likely you ran into a militia that'd gotten some of our equipment and wanted to hold, whoever this scientist is, for ransom." I paused in breathe before continuing. "Probably the same guys who have been attacking Atlas structures lately, I heard some facility got blow up or something." Playing dumb always seemed to work, just enough to know that I seemed genuine, but not enough to seem suspicious. They nodded and seemed to finally digest the whole purpose of this meeting. I kneeled down beside Ruby's bed, she had gotten up and was sitting on the edge of it. She'd done so when she wanted to protest but couldn't find the strength. As her other teammates layed back down and tried to catch some rest I placed my hand on her shoulder and looker her in the eye, she kinda reminded me of my younger sister. "This is your team, and I know you think you can handle it but it's just not you. As a team leader you need to make the right call when and when not to do something, because it's not just you that needs to handle a mission, it's the rest of your team.

"Onyx to the command tent, Onyx to the command tent." Came over the speakers in the distance, time to go. I stood up and left the tent before sprinting to the briefing, whatever he had for us better be good.

 **Argus City - The Present**

I had reached the city walls. A small outer perimeter defense had been set up, sandbags, concrete barriers, and plenty of mounted weapons. What was more impressive however, was the giant ass hole in the cities border wall, big enough to fit maybe 3 tanks through at the same time and tall enough a small building could stand in its place.

I stepped over more bodies of Atlas soldiers, and from the looks of it, Huntsman students. Their corpses signed on every part that wasn't covered up, trails of smoke still sizzled off of them. They'd maybe only been dead a few minutes at the least, meaning that any Covies on the inside couldn't be far. I checked my SOCOM mag one last time before entering, maybe 6 rounds left. I slapped myself mentally for wasting such precious ammo on the few stragglers on the way here.

Looking over the bodies once again I sighed before jogging to a dead Jackal. His chest had collapsed in on itself as a gap the size of my fist hand been punched through it. Beside its dead form was a Carbine, perfect. Logically you'd think I'd go for something from Atlas but, ironically, I had more experience with Covenant weaponry than Atlesian. I looked over the weapon for a moment, making sure it hadn't been damaged, from what I could tell, externally it was fine. Seeing no real damage, other than some scrapes, I looted as many of the plasma magazines as I could off it, before stuffing them in my utility pouches.

With a weapon in hand I stepped through the wall, the concrete had to of been at least several meters thick. Not even our ships or bases ever experienced damage like this, then again, we were more well adapted to their plasma based weapons than Atlas but still.

As I entered the city I caught glimpses of even more bodies, however, this time it wasn't just soldiers. Women, children, civilians, all lined the streets with their dead carcasses. Their blood ran down the hilled roads like rivers. As I crested a hill that lead downward into the city, I could see everything it held in its walls. Plaza's, apartments, clock towers, and victorian style architecture ripped straight out of old England. At the end of all this, only a part ways into the sea was another rock formation, a military base sprawled out. The Atlas military had almost already been pushed to the beach in the span of a few minutes. This battle must've been going on for days, suppose that explains why everything went to shit once the wall was breached. But if they had days to defend, why are there still civilians here?

I pushed out the questions in my mind and focused on the task at hand. The Covenant owned the city all the way down to the bottom of the hill, meaning I was in enemy territory. From the looks of it, this was the main road leading up and down the city, meaning if they regained control of this, they could split Covenant forces into 2 groups. The main road cut straight down to the military base and had a slight curve about half way down, from here I could spot Wraiths at that point providing artillery fire to the beach.

First order of business then, better get moving.

I ran down the hill towards the artillery battery, maybe 6 Wraiths were in place there. If I was gonna do this I had to be smart about it, no backup, no heavy weapons, and certainly no way in hell I was staying this far away. Believe it or not, the best way I've found to combat Wraiths is to try and get inside their volley range. Since they fire in an arc, getting inside its effective range makes it very hard to hit you. I surveyed my surroundings to look for anything that might help.

Multiple destroyed buildings, vehicles, aircraft, and more bodies. However, what caught my eye was the Covenant dropship driven into the pavement, its nose pointed right at them and engine fluttering to life ever so slightly. Before I even finished my thoughts the only thing that came to mind was just HOW BAD of an idea this was. A single thing goes wrong and I risk getting blown into a thousand pieces… Fuck it.

I quietly ran over to the Phantom and climbed through the open hatches. The 6 Wraiths still blissfully ignorant to my presence and the massive battering ram next to them. As I regained my balance in the, slightly off center, aircraft I saw a small Grunt climbing from the cockpit into the troop section of the dropship. A trail of blue, neon, blood behind him. I quickly stepped forward before the little fucker could say anything and snapped its neck swiftly. The meek little crack of its neck drowned out by the sound of artillery.

With the pilot dealt with I got back to the task at hand, turning this thing into a wrecking ball. I looked over the controls as they flashed a myriad of different colors in my face, using what limited knowledge I knew about Covenant technology I hit the button with the symbols that usually started the damn thing. Yes, I've driven Covie vehicles before. Yes, it's kinda crazy. With the button pressed I felt the engines shoot back to life, the rumbling and power of them knocking me off my feet. With only a few seconds to go until this thing plowed through the unsuspecting Wraiths like a sledgehammer through wood, I ran to into the passenger cabin and slid on my ass down and out the other side.

As I hit the familiar concrete pavement again I rolled and jumped out of the way before looking back in sheer bewilderment.

The Phantom shot forward like a bullet from a gun, almost cutting the first one clean in half, only to start piling up Wraiths on the front end of its nose as it slammed into the rest. The sheer speed and mass of the dropship caused each one to rip open and explode like a jerry can before eventually the engines of the Phantom itself ruptured and it took any of them left straight to hell.

Creative problem solving.

With that out of the way, I made my quick sprint down the hill and towards the warzone at the beaches of Argus. As I did so I could see bolts of plasma being slung back and forth between Atlas forces and the Covenant. It was actually quite beautiful in a way, streams of blue, green, and pink flew towards the sea. Only to be met with white plasma in return, what was it with Atlas and the color white?

As I reached the edge of the fighting, I slid into cover behind a wrecked car. There wouldn't be any hope of trigger discipline here, I'd have to cross nearly 300 to 400 yards of scarred and broken streets to just get to the waterfront. From there I'd have to cross the long, wide open, bridges to the Atlas military base. All while avoiding being shot from both ends, smart move would be to try and signal them for support-but my radios busted and they sure as shit don't know me.

I sighed a breath of slight defeat before inspecting the Carbine in my hands one last time. It'd be at least a 30 seconds sprint to the bridge, from there I would hopefully not be shot by Atlas security personnel. Get behind the crude defenses they'd set up at the bridges and then make my way to the base, sounded good enough. I leaned forward and set my feet into somewhat of a sprinter's stance, scanning the battlefield for an opening. Squads of Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and so on littered across. Without that artillery support they'd lost traction.

As my thoughts ended a spraw of Atlas fire cleared open a hole right in the enemy lines… So I started running.

Like a Football player rushing down the field in a 40-yard dash, I sprinted as fast as I could and made sure my legs only stayed on the ground for less than a second. As I passed a squad of confused Grunts I could see plasma fly from the Atlas defences and hit them behind me… Good, at least those guys knew not to shoot me.

As a slight sense of hope filled my body, the cold hit of reality slammed into my right shoulder. I flopped on the ground and rolled into a nearby crater in the ground from the momentum I'd built up. The pain spiked in the region, as I felt my nerves burn and the plates on my shoulder melt off onto the ground. I quickly unstrapped the piece of equipment and threw it off in the crater. My breathing increased as the agony decided to stay, it'd only burned the flesh and nothing else-another fucking scar.

I could see fire coming from both directions fly over the top of the hole i was in. I climbed to the brink of it and waited until my moment arises, for what felt like years. I stayed their, the muscles in my body tensing up and rushing with adrenaline it was just dying to use. I held onto my patience though, in which I was handsomely rewarded.

A gap in the endless flow of plasma opened up, and I leaped at the opportunity. Launching myself up out of that godforsaken pit and towards the line of Atlas soldiers who had, surprisingly, still not shot me-less than 50 yards out now. I could see lines of Covenant fire, fly closer and closer to my head as I gained distance, every second feeling slower and slower. As I got within 15 yards I could see one of them waving his hand for me to come, and as I reached the waist high barrier at top speed, I did the only thing I could do… I leapt!

I dived over the top of their cover and rolled as I hit the ground. As I( regained my bearings I crawled closely to the barrier they set up, the rest of them doing the same. I just broke a lot of combat doctrine in that 30 seconds of running.

"You have some fucking balls spaceman, I'll give 'ya that!" The one in charged shouted at me as I caught my breath. My chest went up and down rapidly as beads of sweat dripped down the side of my head. He went to shake my hand as we both laid under the concrete barrier protecting us. "Sergeant First Class, Donnivan McKnight, pleasure to meet you." The dark brown hand he put out for me to shake was covered in dried blood, his other hand was gloved and also covered in dried blood. It was clear this guy was just making some casual banter in the midst of combat, most infantry units do that, so i returned the favour by shaking his.

"2nd Lieutenant, Gabriel Reeves, likewise." A large explosion went off nearby as the soldier on the big ass plasma gun, continued his spray. "'Suppose you're the one behind their artillery disappearing?" A needle round sailed past my head and over the barrier, I flinched instinctively. "You saw that!?" He only chuckled in reply. "Not just me, everyone on the beach did. 'Weren't 'fer you we'd be on our last leg here." I looked over to the other various bridges connecting the city to the military base on the small island about 100 yards back. Small squads of 4 to 5 protected the them, with makeshift cover and a small arsenal of weapons to hold off the Covenant onslaught.

"Sure looks like you guys are on your last leg… This all that's left!?" The gunfire became louder and louder, to the point we had to practically scream at each other despite being right in front of the other. "The rest of the regiment's inside, gearing up for some counter-attack!… Least what's left of the regiment!" He popped out of cover and fired 3 bolts before coming back down. "If the stories are true about ya'll, then we're gonna need you back there to help with this thing. "Look for Commander Cordovin… Short, white haired, old with brown eyes-you can't miss her!" he popped up one more time firing only a single shot, a green Carbine round sailing dangerously close to his head before coming back down once more. "She's a nasty one but she'll need your help. Just make sure you don-!" He was cut off as he stood up a finally time and before he could even level his weapon, a green round struck him in the face-his body collapsing immediately.

The gunner came back down from his firing stance and kneeled next to his dying comrade. "Fuck, hold in there Sarge… MEDIC!" He wasn't moving at all, no breath, no pulse, and his face was half way blown out. I put a hand on the enlisted shoulder and shook my head, he got the message, taking up his firing stance once again. From there I ran down the bridge and approached the gates of the Atlas military base. I only waited a few moments before the doors gates opened up and a short, white haired, old brown eyed woman approached me. Anger and frustration evident on her face. "Come… There is much to do and little time to do it." My eyebrows shot up in shock as I stepped inside and she waved for me to follower her. Jesus this was a really bad week.

 **FOB Spectre - Atlas - The Present**

This was a really bad fucking idea, but weren't all plans?

The chain of command was presented with a rather interesting problem. The reinforcements we'd sent out to retake the East section of the city had run into even heavier resistance than before. As a response, we're sending in the 52nd Armored Division to support. Problem is though, they've got shooters and heavy weapons littered all over the roofs, Air Force is having a tough time locating targets, it is the industrial district afterall. So of course, Command has the great idea to send in our team to spot them for airstrikes, and I mean that genuinely, that's part of our job as Force Recon. So we're supposed to roll in with the 52nd and help 'em out, but then they get a message from a coastal city housing precious equipment vital to Remnants signal and transmission network-a giant fucking relay.

With everyone going everywhere, we're being split thin until the next batch of reinforcements gets sent down through the portal. So what do we do when we have to be in 2 places at once, we split up and assign tasks. Half of Onyx will handle the Atlas situation, lead by Matthews with Kerry and Sierra. Meanwhile, I'll be leading a strike/ first assessment force of Martinez, Jones, and Deruld to the coastal city of Argus to deal with the relay. From what I've heard, Argus has been under siege for nearly 2 days and can't get civilians out of the city. Once the walls eventually fell, it lead to a fucking bloodbath.

A Pelicans was sitting on the landing pad, about time-we'd been waiting for nearly an hour, all while a column of tanks sat in the base ready to roll. I walked up to Matthews one last time and gave him a hug before walking off to the pads. His team sat on top of a Scorpion as the column began rolling out.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a good feeling to be back in UNSC gear again. Gungnir helmet, photo-reactive BDU, the whole nine-yards. Not to mention the feeling of not boarding an unmarked vehicle and not having to worry about being spotted was always a plus. We sat down inside the Pelican and awaited take off, from what the pilot told us he wasn't given a clear LZ, so we'd pick on on the way down. This was about as 'recon' as it gets.

 **Argus City - The Present**

"We'll moved the 22nd battalion over on the right, 35th to the left, and 12th straight down the middle. Then have our Specialists advance from the water. Once our artillery fire digs 'em in, we roll out any armor we have left. Finally, we use the tanks as cover while we begin the real counter-attack… If we're lucky this'll buy enough time until you get that "project" of yours ready." We had less than a regiment, maybe 800 to 900 men left, against an entire division of Covenant ground troops. It was an almost 11 to 1 advantage over us, we had inferior weapons, and our game changer was still being prepped for combat. Good news though, I was able to get one of their technicians to signal the Major for help, he'd get troops here in maybe an hour or so-our best bet till then was to retake the beach and force them to retreat uphill.

"This plan better work, lest we all get killed. I hope you do understand the importance of this facility, if it goes down... There is no telling when we would be able to re-establish communications." I leaned over the small planning table we found ourselves in, other personnel frantically ran back and forth in the command center while typing away at the numerous terminals within it. "I'm aware, however, The UNSC is on its way. There's no doubt that even if it does get disabled, we could repair it within a short time." her face changed to that of disgust as she gave me quite the death stare.

"Your kind will do no such thing, Atlas is the most technologically advanced civilization on this planet, we can handle it ourselves… I do wish to remind you that you only fill the role as an advisor, this operation is mine." She emphasized her claim on the base and her men, were all Atlas officers this arrogant. Then again, she may still not be aware of the UNSC's full capabilities like the rest of Atlas, come to think of it, most of the other nations know little about us still-Back on point! "This operation!? Ma'am, the best you've done is drive yourself into the sea and leave countless to die once your 'mighty' defences failed… I've seen the bodies." She scoffed in her place and reeled back in offence before placing her hands behind her back and retorting. "For nearly 2 days Atlas forces held this city until we ended up back here, yet you have the gall to insult our capabilities!?"

"I've seen civilians protect their houses longer than you defended this city, now if you want to stay here and address your men about the plan that's fine… But I'll be out there making sure we win." With that final note I exited the command center and made my way through a set of hallways leading outside, Carbine still in hand. The counter-attacks would begin in maybe a minute or so, if they worked quickly, I'd be ready.

The outer courtyard of the base was buzzing with life, Platoons began gathering as officers began explaining the plan to their men. Battalion Commanders began organizing and assigning callsigns to specific teams, meanwhile a team of Specialists, all dressed in white inspected their weapons. Considering they'd have the hardest job of assaulting the beach without any real support, I might as well talk to 'em.

"I hope you all realize the threat your about to face…" Their heads all shot up to me, giving me a clear view of their weapons, and once again it was melee/gun hybrids. "You'll be dropped off under the bridges and out of sight, then have to use DPV's to reach the shore, once your there it'll be just you…" No way in hell would they even last a second with those weapons of theirs, and while I hated switching shit on the fly, it would be the only way they'd get to live. "I'd swap out those weapons of yours for a firearm, gonna be at least 200 yards between you and the nearest bad guy… We've already lost a lot of good men, don't need any more." With that I saw them lay their swords, daggers, and even a mace, on a weapon rack and pick up one of the rifles I saw a lot of foot soldiers using.

"You've all been trained in firearms right?" They only nodded quickly, I bit my bottom lip and clapped my hands together as a sign of solidarity before walking past them. It what felt like a whirlwind of soldiers running by me, I saw 4 Atlesian mechs step forward to each each gate connected to a bridge. The mech stood behind the large door at the front of formations, white hot tanks with armor as sleek and sharp as that of a knife rolled in behind them. Instead of the usual means of movement, they had legs with treads built into them. Allowing the tanks to stand up and maneuver over terrain more efficiently, only to fall back down onto it's treads for a lower profile and more protection. Put that alongside the rail cannon for its main weapon and coaxial plasma turret, you had one hell of a vehicle, and that's not even mentioning the rocket pods placed on its top for heavy area of effect volleys. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't impressed by the design, as flawed and strange as all their tools were, this one was by far the most well-thought out.

Once all of the armored division had formed up behind each mech at all 3 gates, an extra mech was on standby to assist, the men began forming up behind the collum. Their usually white and pristine colors had been dirtied and chipped away by combat, some even had burn marks left on the plating. I could just see how tired they all were, doesn't matter what side your on, these people were fighting tooth and nail for their home-something I could admire.

The seconds turned into minutes as the gunshots in the distances became more rapid, I could only shudder and pray for the poor fireteams I saw on my way here. Left out on their own to buy us time, if the Specialists did their jobs right, we might just be able to get them backup in time before their eventually overran and killed.

Abruptly a single voice came over the PA system of the base, Commander Cordovin, her old scratchy voice just loud enough over the distant sounds of war for us to hear. "Regiment, you are clear to advance. I say again, begin the counter-attack!" With that the large gates opened and a high-ranking officer stepped onto the chassis of a nearby tank to address his men. "12th Battalion, let's get rolling!" With that the artillery batteries within the base began raining down a volley on the beachfront. The Atlesian Paladins stepped forward as the armored column followed behind-the rest of the men all huddles tightly behind our mobile cover.

Wasn't long before enemy fire began racing by us, a few unlucky bastard got nailed right in the chest. The plasma burning right through and killing them on the spot. As we got closer, the Paladin along with the tanks from each Battalion began returning fire at the halfway point. It was clear that as much as their weapons were effective, they didn't know what to shoot at, which targets to prioritize over others.

I climbed onboard the back of one of the Atlas tanks and patched into the column Commanders radio, hoping that he'd be smart enough to respond. "We're taking to much heat, let the mech take care of the infantry still left on the shore while you hit every fortified positions-force them to give up suppressing fire so we can advance." I waited a moment before not getting a reply. As I kneeled down on the back of the tank, it's engine causing slight vibrations in the metal, I saw the main gun shift 45 degrees to its right and fire the railgun at a Covenant MG nest. Looks like they had listened afterall.

The shot must of hit their ammunition supply because that shit went up at least 50 feet in the air. Before I even knew it, every tank from every Battalion, was picking up the correct targets and chipping away at the firepower of the Covenant. As we approached the beach, I could see the team of Specialists pushing back any infantry our mechs hadn't cut down off the sand. Eventually we rolled over the end of the bridge and the armor began dispersing to cover more ground, with that in mind, all Atlas ground troops began pushing up the shoreline and towards the Covenant positions about 200 yards out. They'd dug themselves deep into the coastal buildings and apartments, we tried our best to flush them out with our Paladins and tanks, but there were just so many of them. It wasn't long before we hit a stalemate, neither side crossing the 200 yards between us, with them having the advantage.

We couldn't stay on this beach forever, seeing that I'd rather not die today, I did the only thing I could to break the stalemate, I made another run. "Commander Cordovin, I need you to prep another artillery barrage, target: purple flare!" A pink needle soared past my head as I dove off the tank. As I hit the sand beneath me I felt a wave of heat wash over me, as I looked in terror at the burning tank I had once been placed on. I could hear the crew screaming as the plasma launcher had hit their engine and given birth to a raging fire that was now consuming them.

I grimaced at the picture before getting to my feet and preparing to run, before I did so however, I got a squad of Atlas personnel to lay down some fire. With all set in motion I made my move. I exploded from friendly lines and into no mans land, all sorts of rounds flew past me both friendly and enemy, like a moving light show of neon colors.I continued sprinting until I reached a familiar crater, diving into it with reckless abandon, I found myself accompanied with a set of new corpses-still freshly bleeding, but dead. I cringed at the sight before pulling out a purple flare and igniting it, the color began engulfing the small hole I was in as i crawled up to the edge, it clearly giving the enemy my exact location.

As I peered over the top of the crater for a split-second, I mustered up all the strength I could, and hurled the thing towards the buildings they had hid themselves. With the bullseye now out of my hand I drew the Covenant Carbine I had acquired and popped off 6 shots in rapid succession. The energy filled _pew_ sound echoing in my ears.

 _Pew._ A Jackal's brains got fried.

 _Pew._ A poor Grunt's methane tank ruptured, taking 3 other souls with it.

 _Pew._ A Brute Captain had a hole charred in its chest the size of my fist.

With each shot a body fell until the chamber opened and the magazine popped out with a green mist. I drew another one from my pouch and slammed it into place before the chamber shut close. Only for me to bring the alien weapon up once more and continue firing, praying to god that a stray round wouldn't puncture my skull.

Within a few seconds of the flares ignition and subsequent smoke buildup, I heard the thunderous **BOOMS** of Atlas artillery from the base. A few more seconds passed by as the school bus sized balls of heat and death began raining down on Covenant fortifications. They began getting flushed out as the rest of the assault force pushed off the shoreline and near the roads perpendicular to the beach. By the time they'd reached the buildings, only a few walls were left standing as only ruble and slag remained. I saw Atlas forces begin cleaning up any unlucky son of a bitch still left alive from the blast, all while our armor gave the remainders of this battalions a reason to run for the hills.

They'd be back though… We'd only established a staging ground afterall. More heavily armed and dangerous Covenant divisions would still be out in the rest of Argus, but it was still a victory to savour. The men around me began cheering and shouting in triumph, it'd been the first time they'd won in a while. It'd be killed off soon enough though, once they began finding the bodies of all the civilians left there in the blood soaked city. Every wall was covered red handprints, streets leaving trails of blood, and the sand we stood upon was drenched in it.

The victory became short lived as a counter-counter attack began. Plasma mortars soared over the roofs of buildings onto our position as Grunts began pouring down the streets towards us. They had fallen back in order to let us dig in and force a war of attrition, until we ran out of ammo at least. The men and women came out of their shock and immediately got back to work, finding cover behind destroyed cars and buildings, letting the rounds fly with reckless abandon.

With every Grunt we killed at least 6 more would take its place, eventually their spotters must've honed in on our armor. A mech took fuel rod to the leg and dropped down, its main cannon sinking into the sand beneath it as the exposed external fuel line caught fire. The flame began spreading across the suit as it soon engulfed the driver in a fiery blaze, his motions of pain and agony being mimicked by the Paladin he commanded. By now they were too close for an artillery strike but the bridge was too far away for a tactical retreat, we had one choice left, dig in and hold on.

As our defensive perimeter began shrinking second by second, I could see more and more of their hordes of Grunts get closer. By now they rolled in some of the higher species in the Covenant to really slam the nails in the coffins.

2 Tanks went up in flames and another Paladin was destroyed. As the swarms of cannon fodder got closer and closer I began hearing the one thing you never want to hear in a firefight. "I'm empty, I'm dry, no ammo!" Before I knew it we had less than a basketball court to move in, we were completely boxed in.

I green plasma round nailed my shoulder plating as I pivoted across my foot and shot the Grunt that had gotten inside out perimeter. As I did so another round hit the back of leg, dropping me to one knee. I felt the familiar burning sensation as I dove to the ground and turned onto my back to shoot the methane breathing cocksucker in the mouth. Once the round killed the assailant the all too recognizable sizzling sound and blue glow appeared beside me, a plasma grenade. I shot up to my feet and grabbed the body of a dead Atlas soldier nearby before diving onto the grenade on top of the body, pressing as much weight as I could.

The grenade went off and the force knocked me off the body while shockwave disorientated my vision and hearing. All I could see were pretty lights flying around my head as more and more soldiers died. I was sure to join them.

At least… I was supposed too?

Within those final seconds of my life, feeling to ever tight grip of death-the one I'd cheated time and time again grip me, an intimate sound broke through my daze. A sound any ground pounder knew and would always know for his whole life. A sound that was so powerful, yet so elegant that you can't help but admire it. The sound was... _ **BRRRRRRRRRT**_.

As the noise cut through the air like a knife in butter, I could see those little fuckers get cut down piece by piece. And as the daze returned and I began feeling myself tire, I saw a final image before my back hit the ground. Short Swords, Pelicans, Falcons, and even Vultures all flying towards us in formation. Firing their missiles and cannons at the horde that surrounded us, and as the fighters ripped by us and the troop transports began landing, the only thought in my mind was… About damn time. Before hitting the sand beneath me from my new concussion.

 **Argus City Airspace - 60 Seconds Earlier**

"Target area in sight, looks like heavy fighting near the beach. Large concentration of enemy forces in front of that tank column, recommend you spin up!" I shouted over the roaring engines of the Pelican. I had placed myself on the ramp of the aircraft and peaked my head around the side to get a visual on the LZ, my Gungnir helmet magnifying the image greatly.

"Outlaw copies all, targets are marked. Guns,guns,guns!" Before I knew it the sounds of the guns firing filled the air around us, we could see their tracer rounds ricochet and bounce off of the beach and in random directions as the horde of Grunts scrambled around before being cut down. "15 seconds off the deck!" Came from the pilot, he was flying us into some deep shit. Every pilot was, Argus had been described as a pilots worst nightmare, lots of tight streets with plenty of spots for AA. We'd be deploying with Sabre and Metal team for this one, both Force Recon, both we've worked with before. Alongside that, we'd have a couple chalks of Marines with us for first assessment. About a company or so.

As the Pelican gilded low, just a mere 5 feet off the water, we hit the beach. The pilot slowed down the craft in the span of 5 seconds and we felt the bump of the wheels hitting sand. Nothing needed to be said as we all shot out of the vehicle and towards the small circular firebase set up in the middle of the beach. As we moved forward and shot down any unlucky bastard dumb enough to poke his head at us we arrived at the tanks surrounding it. Plenty of dead or dying Atlas troops to go around, felt odd not shooting at them for once. Speaking of odd, it was almost cathartic to were UNSC gear again. It'd been a hot minute since we'd worn out combat gear, all the readouts and HUD displays almost become overwhelming when I first put back on the helmet.

As I slipped by their defenses, I could see medics rushing back and forth to the wounded as officers tried to gain a hand on the situation. Barking and shouting orders to terrified Privates and lower Enlisted who had no idea what the fuck had just happened over the last 48 hours. What was odd though, was the single guy just laying down in the middle of the bunch. Nobody seemed interested in him, he wasn't bleeding, he was just laying their. A Covenant Carbine in the dirt to his side and a SOCOM on his leg, odd, don't remember one of our guys getting hit.

"Sierra, Martinez, find an officer and get me a sitrep on the situation. Deruld, climb on that tank and start dropping the heat." I paused and turned to point at the rest of my team. "Jones, get me linked to their network ASAP. Matthews, start fucking up their armor!" I could already sense the grin under his helmet as he loaded a fresh 'nade into his launcher. "Kerry with me, check this dude out." As the rest of my guys all ran over to their assigned tasks I slid next to person in question. He was laying face down and was clearly breathing, as we flipped him over we caught glimpse of his face. All covered in sand, grime and blood, his gear had been absolutely trashed. As he shook his head and a clear image came into view I recognized the remarkable scar on his face, running along his temple to his brow. Those bleak and faded brown eyes, I wiped off the face to inspect him more closely before coming to a realization… I was looking at a dead man walking.

My head shot back in shock. "Reeves!? What the hell, you're supposed to be dead." I turned to Kerry in disbelief, he only responded by mumbling and blinking rapidly while his head swayed back and forth. "I-I'm fine….Just need a second, is this Matthews or Cooper? You all look alike." He slurred out in a nearly drunken voice, I nodded at Kerry who then injected a shot of a substance that I never quite understood but dearly loved. As he stabbed the syringe into Reeves' leg, he didn't even flinch, I could see him come back to his senses quickly. "C-Cooper… The hell, what're you doing here?" He stood up and grabbed the Carbine next to him. "Could ask you the same question sir… Here, you might prefer this." I unslung the BR55 on my back and handed it to Reeves, who still had all the mags he hadn't used from _the mission_. He took it with a smile across his face and a respectful nod before shouldering it and slouching slightly under the oncoming fire.

"'Aight… What's the plan 'Coop." With that we just sorta paused and looked at each other. For the first time since I'd ever met him, ONI or not, he was asking me for orders. "Uhhhhhh… I mean this is _your_ unit, I think it'd be fitting if yo-" He cut me off with a quick response. "Motherfucker I have no helmet, have my armor has melted off me, I have been sleep deprived and starved for the past 2 days, and I've got broken bones… This one's yours." I only chuckled in response. "Okay then, I've got the marksman figuring out what's going on and the rest on keeping this area secure." I paused before pointing towards a pair of 2 other Force Recon teams. "Metal and Sabre will be providing strategic logistics for command while also coordinating with the air-ground task force. While we'll be focusing on first assessment." Reeves only nodded before putting his 10 cents in. "Aight, best to start on the right flank then, you'll find higher ground for scouting along with plenty of support from the 22nd. They may not look it but they'll get the job done sooner or later." We all nodded in agreement before I signalled for the team to rally on me, as we went to start moving I saw Reeves flinch in pain before brushing it off and following alongside us.

We had to get to that vantage point soon or by the time reinforcements arrive… We'll be chest deep in bodies and shit.

As we ran along the beach I could see Pelican after Pelican land and begin unloading more troops than I was told were sent. Had to be at least a Battalion if not 2, might want to check in with Grant soon. As my thought finished a plasma mortar rained down onto the fuselage of said Pelican nearby, the shockwave knocking the whole team off their feet-but having a harsher effect on Reeves.

I think that was God trying to tell me to get on that call.

"Jones, get me on a priority line to Grant, this wasn't part of the plan!" As I said so another Shortsword blazed over my head and dropped a bomb on top of an apartment complex. Completely destroying it and leaving only piles of dust and rubble in its wake, this wasn't a damn assessment, they were razing the city!

"Major you mind telling me what the hell is going on, this wasn't part of the plan!" I reiterated over comms and we cut off the beach and began jogging up the hills and roads on the right side of the city. The radio fell silent for a few chaotic moments, as it seemed the city itself was screaming in pain. As if on queue another bird came in over head and dropped ordnance less than 200 meters away, the blast sending us flying backwards and impacting against the concrete. "Grant, what the fuck is going on, that was too close!"

As we rose to our feet and moved up the hill, a platoon of Covenant light-infantry crested over the road and opened fire. We all instictively ducked for cover as I heard the Majors voice come in over comms. "I'm doing the best I can, but a single communications post doesn't mean much to the Navy at this point. Their more interested in simply obliterating this Covenant ground division than anything, I'll buy you as much time as I can but no promises." With that the call ended and a needle round sailed pass my head.

Navy, since when did the Navy show up?

I looked up into the sky and sure as shit, a UNSC Frigate hovered low above the water. Fighters and transports flowing out like water towards the landing point, always in the dark. I popped out of cover and fired off a slug from my Shotgun, the projectile nailed a Jackal square in the chest and ripped a massive hole in it before I dropped back into cover. "What's the word!?" Came from Reeves, gotta remember, he didn't have any comms on him right now. "Command's trying to burn the Covenant division on the ground and the city along with it. Grant will keep those birds from blowing us up to kingdom come so long as we just help provide strategic reconnaissance for air strikes" The Major may not of actually said that but when an assault broke out, that was our primary objective.

"But if we don't start calling precision strikes soon, the Navy won't hesitate to just blow this place sky high!" Reeves nodded from across the street before popping out around the corner of an alley and letting off 3 rapid shots. Each shot nailed a target center mass, each target dropped dead instantly. Within the next 5 seconds, the team would pick off every remaining enemy soldier with lethal precision. Once we knew they were dead, we stood up and immediately started sprinting up the hill and onto the vantage point. The point was a semi-collapsed building with its left side completely sloped down-providing a nice ramp to climb up to it.

From here it was pretty simple, "Alright, Sierra and martinez will range targets. Matthews will paint them, Jones will call 'em in, Everyone else on security!"

I planted myself at about the halfway point down the sloped side of the office building. With my shotgun aimed down and scanning the streets below I listened in over the radio for all of the callouts. "Target: clocktower 600 meters due East. Heavy ordnance, danger close." Sierra called out from atop the roof, in the following moments the screech of a jet flying overhead cut through the air like a knife. As the jet swung over the target and veered away, the once proud tower near the center of the city was engulfed in a plume of ash, dust, smoke, and ruble. This continued for nearly 10 minutes until I got a very intriguing call from the Major.

"Onyx actual, I'm re-assigning your team to new primary objective, how copy?" Everyone looked around at each other in confusion as the words came though, Reeves simply stayed focused on security. "We read you Major, what's the score?" We all held our breaths anxiously, whatever it was, it must've been important because this whole damn city was being torn apart.

"Your mission is to locate and destroy a White Fang hideout on the South-Eastern side of the city," Our heads instinctively shot to that part of the city. It was just behind Covenant positions, we'd be right in the crosshairs of them, the White Fang, and our own air strikes. My heart sunk as he said that, this was not gonna be a fun one."SAT images spotted them stockpiling Covenant and UNSC weaponry. A Huntsman team was sent out earlier to locate them but they've been met with heavy resistance." With the details spoken I was met with new resolve, god knows we didn't want Atlas or any of the actual Kingdoms of Remnant getting our tech-let alone a group of armed terrorists. Seemed like everyone with a gun came out to play today.

"We'll dig 'em out sir, just get us connected with the Hunter team." As I finished my request I already saw everyone getting ready to move. We slid down the side of the building and started moving South-East, making sure to avoid as much detection as possible. Not that the task would be too hard, they'd be too worried about the reapers in the sky rather than us. "Uh copy Onyx, patching you through now…" The seconds went by until a somewhat squeaky male voice came through, couldn't of been anymore than 23.

"H-Hello? Whoever you are, please, we need help! There's too many of them you have to hurry!" The sudden unprofessional voice caught me and my team off guard before I responded. "Hold on, I need you to calm down. We're less than 3 minutes out, what's your name and status?" The line went dead for a few moments as only the sporadic sounds of gunshots could be heard in the background. "M-My names Jaune, I'm the leader of JN-NORA LOOK OUT!" Jaune eh, that was the same kid we had run into a few times back on ship. This time the meaty _**thumps**_ of a grenade launcher could be heard with distant explosions. "All done boss!" Came from the energetic pink one, I recall her using a hammer if I'm correct.

"Good job Nora, look, nobodies hurt but we can't break through. Their using those alien guns, you have to hurry!" That was probably gonna be the best I was gonna get all day with them, they were just kids after all. Well armed kids with good training for what they did, but kids nonetheless. "Alright hold on, we just passed Downing Street, we're just a little more than a block away." With that I cut the line dead as we raced down the paved streets of Argus.

One thing about the West side of the city, it was more industrial than the center from what I'd seen. Which meant less dead civilians… Always a plus. I shivered slightly as we reached an alleyway that would take us on a flanking route, just a couple meters away from JNPR's position. We all stacked up against the walls of the alley and moved down slowly, covering every angle with me on point.

We were fighting terrorists now, less conventional but just as fanatical as the Covenant. Still dangerous by all means, we couldn't underestimate them. As we reached the end of the long alleyway I crouched down at the corner and pulled up the SAT images once again.

To say that the hideout was subtle would be a terrible offence to the word. Cars, trucks, and heavy machinery formed a 3 walled square against an apartment building with sandbag fortifications on the roof and in the windows. They'd dug themselves in like ticks and dared anyone to try and dig them out, which was exactly what we were gonna do. "Jaune, I need you to tell your team to watch their fire to the West, we're coming and I'd rather not get shot by you, Okay?" I stated in a calm voice before he replied. "T-To the West… Got it." With the I gave a quick hand movement as my team exploded off the corner and into the firefight.

JNPR was taking cover from behind a line of cars parked on the side of the road. The street was the only thing between them and the hideout, MG fire sprayed down from the windows as White Fang soldiers slowly advanced on them. Instinctively out team split into 2 groups, Reeves, Kerry, and I all B-lined it towards the apartment-making sure we stayed out of range of the windows machine guns. All while the rest moved along the street to help support JNPR on the ground.

Martinez took the first shot from his DMR, a single round punctured a White Fang's chest and dropped his ass immediately. The rest followed suit, with good positioning, it would take them a hot minute to actually recognize us as a threat-since they were so focused on JNPR. As the ground team moved closer to JNPR's location on the streets, my team used the opportunity to get in close.

They'd barricaded as much of the building as they could, wooden boards, sandbagged windows, and as much heavy shit blocking off secondary entrances as possible. It was clear they wanted us to come in through the front door, we were happy to oblige.

With me on point and Kerry on rear security, Reeves would be my number 2. We reached the front set of double doors leading into the main lobby of sorts. They were still too focused on our guys across the street to even notice us, let alone hear us over the rapid gunfire. As we stacked up against the side of the wall I stepped away from it and aimed my shotgun at the doors hinges. "Entry team moving in, watch your fire!"

With that said I pulled the trigger, the recognizable recoil of the shotgun punching my shoulder. The slug blasted off the top hinge with a satisfying clang before I pumped the weapon again and took aim at the bottom one and repeated the process. With the second hinge off, all that was left was to get the door out of the way.

Lowering my weapon slightly and taking a step to build up momentum, I kicked the door down. Following through with the action, my leg came down with the door and planted myself halfway in the frame of the doorway, weapon at the ready. As the light filtered through the entrance into the dimly lit interior, a single figure appeared. A male Faunas with a cat tail peeking from behind its back, the person jumped back in shock and reached for his weapon. I align my front sights on the man's chest before letting the led fly, leaving a gaping hole where his heart should be from the slug. I took another step forward as the rest of the entry team pushed inside and scanned the room. "Clear, moving on!"

We stepped into the long hallway and found ourselves at a crossroads, each level of the 3 had at least 8 or so rooms on either side. Leaving us with 3 floors, each with 16 rooms to clear out. Our guys were good and they'd be able to hold out down there, but it'd take us nearly 30 minutes to clear out the whole building on our own. "Ground team I need to to prioritize floors and rooms to clear!" They'd be able to at least guide us to where would be best.

"Entry team, ground floor, right side, 3rd room." With that we began heading down the halls and found ourselves prepping for entry on the 3rd room down. We could hear muffled voices inside, maybe 4 or less. We ran through the same procedure as before, except this time I had Reeves pin his rifle against the parallel corned of the door to get clear shot once it came down. I blasted off the hinges and kicked down the door, as I did so Reeves fired 2 shots, before I entered. When I looked inside the room as I breached I spotted a single guy standing at the window with what looked like a UNSC rocket launcher in his hands. My brain immediately went into scramble mode as I practically shoved the barrel of my gun is mouth and pulled the trigger. Another shot rang out in the room from Kerry's Ma5k, the guy dropped holding a grenade in his hand. Lucky for us the pin was in.

"Room clear, proceeding to second target." I layed out in comms before we exited the room.

"Ground team copies all, 3rd floor, left side, 5th room."

We made our way up the stairwell and passed the 2nd floor. What we didn't expect however were the absolutely ludicrous amounts of UNSC and Covenant tech and equipment just shoved into the hall of that floor. When the Major said they had some of our shit I was expecting some ammo, weapons, maybe even some tech, but this was ridiculous. The hall was filled from top to bottom of just stuff they probably didn't even know how to operate.

Pushing the thoughts to the side, I made my way alongside the other 2 up the stairs, and boy were we greeted with warm welcome on the top floor. At least 15 of them had to of been running through the halls from room to room, each carrying supplies or ammunition for the MG nests on the top floor. While the rest were armed with either Atlas or UNSC weapons in hand, at least they hadn't figured out Covie shit yet.

All 3 of us raised our weapons and began firing into the crowd, my shotgun do its job of collateral damage while Kerry and Reeves handled anybody who got their gun up. If all of the breaching earlier felt like slow motion, this felt like fast forward. I had to of at least pumped 8 shots into the large group before I saw most of them hit the floor. As the smoke from our barrels dissipated I loaded new shells into my gun before pumping the slide violently and approaching the first door. They'd know we'd be coming in, we'd made a lot of noise coming up after all-so might as well meet force with force.

We huddled into a 3 man single stack on the left side of the door with me on point, I pressed the barrel of my weapon against the door once again and followed the same steps as before. Except this time, instead of kicking down the door and entering, I kicked backwards off the stack and back onto the wall, leaving Kerry a single second to toss a frag inside, which he did. We could hear their panic as one attempted to run out of the room, only for the frag to go off and blast him through the doorway, he was dead once he hit the floor.

With a quick entrance and observation, we knew that they were dead. At least what was left of them, most of 'em were missing limbs and rolling on the floor in agony. A middle aged female Ox faunas was missing her left leg and right hand, all I could hear as I entered was her screaming like a siren. Another young kid, maybe 20, was completely cut to ribbons from the shrapnel. His head jerked every so often as he viewed his mangled form through blood-soaked eyes and dust.

"Alright, last room, let's go!" Shouted Reeves from the hallway, I looked back at the wounded soldiers. Somewhat tempted to end their lives and relieve the final minutes of suffering they'd be experiencing, but why would I waste the ammo?

The final room was about the same. Same situation, same number of enemies inside, same results. Once the MG nest was clear I radioed down from the window to the ground team. "Matthews this is Cooper, we got 'em. Must've been at least 30 of 'em, maybe a little over." He stood up from behind the bullet riddled truck he was behind along with the rest of them-JNPR included. "Okay… Where's the cargo though?" His arms shot up before falling down to his sides in exasperation.

"Inside, we ran by it on the way up. To much to move, should probably just mark the building for a strike and call it a day?" Everyone looked around at each other for any opposing to the idea before we reached the consensus. "Might as well, no point in trying to drag it out. I'll have Jones call in a strike while we move to a nearby LZ." I gave a thumbs up from the window before we stepping away and leaving the apartment. As we exited the 3 story building I met up with JNPR for a quick report while Jones signalled in for a strike.

"Let's make this quick, in less than 5 minutes that buildings about to get turned to dust… So what exactly did you guys encounter?" Their team was battered like hell, their once bold and colourful armor was now dulled and dirty from combat. Nora was sprawled out on the ground panting like a dog while Ren simply gripped his side in pain and leaned against a nearby building. Pyrrha was at least capable of standing, though it was with the assistance of her weapon, while Jaune simply sat on top of a car in exhaustion.

"We uhh… We just got sent in to deal with this place and clear it out. Once we arrived though… We just started getting shot at from nearly every angle and the best I could do was tell my team to fall back and call for help, which I guess was you guys." I nodded along as he told his story, I'll give it to 'em. They lasted pretty damn long out here, which is an achievement in and of itself. "Alright, well we can't have you guys still out there so stick with us and we'll get you guys extracted." Simple as that.

With that we cleared the area before another jet zoomed by and dropped massive payload on the building. The explosion completely absorbed the apartment and took almost anything within a 10 meter radius of it with it. From there on it was pretty quite, the LZ was back on the beach and most of the UNSC Air-Ground Task Force was mopping up. Seeing no reason to rush we decided a light jog would do the trick, in hindsight, we probably should've seen this coming.

"Onyx actual I need you guys to double time it to the LZ, command has ordered a full scale withdrawal from the area. You have 5 minutes!" We stopped dead in our tracks in confusion, what could this be about?

"Uh Major, operations here are conducting smoothly. Any specific reason?" This was already making me nervous, this battle was almost won and now they wanted us to pull out. Covenant ship? No we'd destroyed majority of the planetary fleet while the rest were still being held outside the portal. "Onyx, the Navy just spotted a mass of Grimm activity making its way towards the city, estimates are in the high thousands, now move!" No more needed to be said.

We all broke out into a full sprint down the hill and towards the landing point, the plan was simple in my head. They'd pull everyone out before carpet bombing the whole damn city and leaving any Covenant left to handle the hordes of Grimm. The enemy of my enemy I suppose.

As we made our way across the beach I spotted nearly everyone loading up. Tanks and other vehicles were being hooked up to Pelicans took on Marines. All while Falcons hovered above overlooking the whole thing, it'd be a scramble. We maybe had 2 minutes left at best, so locating a ride out was priority. "'Coop on the left!" Reeves shouted, my head shot there instantly, low and behold there it was. A single Pelican that had just landed and had its co-pilot ushering us to it, needless to say, we did not waste time.

We all loaded up quickly, JNPR taking the seats first before the rest of us did. As Reeves loaded up last like he always did, which given recent events, may not be a good thing. He dropped to a knee and held his side in pain, I instinctively got up from my seat only for him to wave me off and climb inside. With everyone onboard the pilot dusted off, with only 30 seconds left on the clock.

As we rose above the sea and I could see the city stretch out before me, I viewed a literal black wave flood the cities streets and begin attacking Covenant encampments. Actually felt bad for them if I'm being honest, not long after however, the bombers circled above before swooping down into formation. As the Pelican flew away we were given a front row seat to the action.

The bombers soared high above the city before waving off and falling back with us. As the seconds went by I could feel the tension build before the big climax.

Multiple explosions engulfed the city of argus, and by the time the ash cleared, nothing but ruble remained. Like that… The UNSC had just wiped off and entire city off the face of Remnant, and that was something to be proud of.

 **Jesus this was a long one, might be the longest to date, I planned to make this a 2 parter but after all you guys have done for me I figured I owed you an extra long chapter after the Q &A. I hope you guys are really enjoying the story so far.**

 **I'm aware that with the new reveals and such of Atlas and Argus in the show, some of my descriptions will be off. Specifically Atlas city not being in the fucking sky, I won't be retconning this and I'll be sticking to what I have.**

 **With that said, please leave a review.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next chapter**


	14. Chapter 12 A Final Push

Chapter 12

A Final Push

"Artificial horizons are looking stable, adjust for elevation scan." The beep of the radio message ending, cut through the headsets of the gunship's crew. The Co-pilot relayed all prudenant information while the rest of the crew manned the many guns and cannons of the aircraft. Meanwhile the TV operator began adjusting for all sorts of factors at this elevation. "Uh, look for the flashing strobes, the Major has instructed that all signatures marked with the strobes are friendly."

The TV operator of the Vulture gunships swept the screen across FOB Spectre, inside you could see multiple thermal signatures, the most identifiable however, being the Scorpion tank collum sitting along the main road of the base. "How long we gonna sit here Mak, the recon team should've been back from Argus by now. We've been flying in circles for nearly an hour now." The operator asked, the now named pilot Mak, who only chuckled before replying. "Major said they should be on the ground in about a minute or so… 'Ya know the original plan was for the team to split up but I guess the Colonel had other ideas." The crew only rolled their eyes as they manned their stations, hundreds of feet above the ground. Colonel Yangata was a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least he got the job done.

"Hold on… Mak run a check, I got some Pelican flying in over the water to the FOB?" A small pause was held between the 2 as Mak began running the ID past command. "Confirmed Derik, that's our guys. Patching you through now." Another pause pushed the moments between orders as their headsets began tuning to their frequency. As it did so, the recon team hopped out of one of the Pelicans and began making their way towards the tank collum, while one sprinted off towards the armory. Odd, Derik thought, swore there was only 7 of them.

The radio cut in sharply as an unfamiliar gruff voice cut in. "Vulture this is Onyx Actual, do you read me over?" Derik quickly brought a hand up to the side of his flight helmet and responded. "Loud and clear Onyx, 52nd Armored is ready to go alongside 5th Battalion. You'll be the hand of God down there." He went to adjust the windage of the camera as the recon team formed up and sat on the side of the middle tank.

"Solid copy Vulture, just keep your nose pointed at the enemy."

Cheeky fucker, Derik thought.

 **Atlas City - The Present**

The now reclaimed Onyx team, loaded up into the trucks, all while I had to grab an extra mag and new chest rig. On the way back Cooper briefed me on the situation, how Atlas was doing and what had happened since my little swan dive. Things weren't looking good, for Remnant at least, the UNSC was practically holding this world at gunpoint just as much as the Covenant was. And if what he told me was true, about the black ops, the sabotage, then we just as well might be the threat they made us out to be in the beginning.

No matter, I may be dented up but I'm still in the fight. Today was the day we'd take back Atlas, from what I heard too, some of the actual Atlesian armed forces would be joining in on the fun. From there who knows, but all I can tell you is that this war is reaching the endgame and the UNSC is already gearing up for something we didn't even know about.

The engine of the tank vibrated at the humming built up the tensions. Before we knew it, the treads were rolling out the front gate as the whole 9-tank collum began its methodical approach to ground zero of the battle. Something had told me that we'd gotten whatever we'd wanted from this world, the UNSC was going all in here to push the Covenant out. Even if we did fail they'd just call a withdrawal like Vale and have us out of here.

"Vulture, all personnel and vehicles not marked by a flashing strobe are considered hostile. Clear the way!" I shouted over the sounds of the heavy machines rolling down the street. Toppling over cars and pushing any small barriers out of their way. The sky was now dark and the few lights that still worked casted long shadows on the streets. Lucky for me, I had grabbed a new helmet, you really forget how nice all our tech is until you lose it.

As we approached the RV less than 2 blocks away, the sounds of war resonated through the lumbering buildings surrounding us. At least… What was left of them at this point. As we did so I caught a glimpses of a trail of tracer rounds all pour down from the sky onto a spot just beyond a building in front of us, the hand of God had taken a few souls. I failed to contain my excitement and pleasure from behind my helmet as the call came in. "Onyx actual, be advised, you've got a couple foot mobiles at the end of this street on your right. Light-infantry, small arms, we softened 'em up for 'ya." I brought my finger up to the side of my ear and replied quickly. "Understood Vulture, thanks for the assist." I then shot the gunner of the tank a quick glance before getting his attention with the snap of my fingers.

His head shot towards me as I then pointed at the right corner of a small apartment building at the end of the street and made small "bad guy" hand gesture. He nodded before rotating the turret towards that side and racking the handle back, his finger sliding onto the trigger. As he did so, Kerry, Martinez, and myself all raised our rifles towards the same direction.

As the lead tank passed by, a few blots of plasma was flung their way, a poor fucker seated on the side took one to the shoulder and fell onto the pavement below him. As the tank continued down into the next intersection and ours passed the corner, we met our enemies. A platoon of Jackals and Grunts, with a single Elite leading them, all of which appeared to be in bad shape. Behind them we could see their fallen comrades sprawled out against the concrete, body parts strung about. They recoiled in shock from our readiness before being met with a wall of lead. Our rounds flew through the air and quickly cut them down, in the following seconds we returned back to our relaxed postures as the gunner centered his turret.

The tanks kept rolling and the war kept going, in about 3 to 4 minutes we'd be back at the front. That part of the city had been practically turned into a no man's land, the once towering buildings of industry were now reduced to piles of rubble and dust standing only a couple feet tall. The Covenant were on their last leg and they knew it, it felt wrong though, for once we were in control of the fight. No hordes of Grunts, no massive Naval fleets, we were winning. Knowing our luck… That was bound to change.

"Reeves… you there?" It was the Major again, why would he break radio discipline like that. "Yeah, baseplate I'm here, send traffic." His tone was worrying me, he sounded like he was in pain and scared. Something was off and it was making me nervous. "Reeves… Listen to me, your about to walk into trap." I hate my fucking mouth, right as things seemed easy. "Elaborate please!?" I shouted again as the main cannon fired, leaving a ringing in my ears.

"It's Atlas, looks like Argus was the last straw for them, they know we're going all in here. They plan on turning against UNSC forces after we've pushed the Covenant out. Our guys are doing what they can from a diplomatic standpoint but whatever yor do… Don't trust them." His transmission ended immediately, leaving me to ponder over his words. I could understand the sudden change of alliance, they may not of found out about the R&D facility and 'Architect' but after Argus… We flattened an entire city, after hundreds of their own had been slaughtered. I at least understood it, but with the Atlas fleet only having a handful of ships left and lackluster man power, they couldn't of actually thought they could take us right? I mean even if they somehow decimated our ground forces, we'd have reinforcements down here in no time.

Something was very off, and if this was true, why hadn't the Major informed all UNSC forces rather than just us? "Grant, where the hell did this come from. Why haven't you informe-Grant? Grant!?" The comms were dead, with no response from him. As the sounds of battle got closer and closer I could see the battlefield ahead, I had to make a call. "Reeves… What's the play?" Came from Cooper, time was running out and I needed to say something. "Stick to the plan, regardless of the Atlesians we still need to push the Covenant out." It wasn't the best plan, but we were stuck between a stampede and a cliff.

The tank rolled out of the street and into the raging war before us. No longer did tall buildings stand in our path, or roads leaded together like a labyrinth of concrete, only rubble and dust spread across the city. As the Scorpion threaded over a pile of debris and human remains, it fired its thundering cannon. The shockwave kicking up dust of all kinds around us. I surveyed the scene before me attentively, enemy armor was spread out in clusters while heavy weapons infantry attempted to lay down as much fire as possible. Less than 200 meters away was the bulk of Covenant activity in our grid, either running away or standing their ground firmly.

"Vulture I've got visual on fortified enemy positions 200 meters West of my position, right near the downed Phantom." true to my word, the large mass of enemy forces was using the overturned Phantom as a sort of rally point as they all encircled it as they held their positions. "Vulture copies all, switching to 105mm… Aaaaaaaaand geronimo!" The TV operator let out with an emphasis on the last part. A collective breath was held by my team, within those 'quiet' seconds I heard the familiar screech of the rounds sailing through the air. Then like the hand of God had reached out to them, multiple sudden explosions engulfed the Covenant fortifications. Kicking up enough clouds of smoke and dust that the right side of our collum began advancing forward.

"Good hit Vulture, thanks for the assist. You are weapons free from here on!" A guy who worked in a gunship once told me that those words always filled him with joy. The feeling of not being restrained and stacking bodies always brought those crews happiness. As I scanned the battlefield once more I caught a glimpse of a camera crew alongside a male reporter taking cover behind a tank. All while the cameraman remained focused on the battle ahead, it was clear that they were Atlesian from the sleek white equipment they used in the otherwise rugged terrain. Media must be having a field day in this shit.

"Onyx disembark, let's get a move on!" I hollered from my seated position on the Scorpion, seeing no reason to stay seated in an exposed position. We jogged across the remainder of the main road and into what was left of a office building. The first floors frame being the only thing that remained at this point. As we entered I made a call out that we were friendly, which in this case saved our lives. As we rounded a corner and towards a segment of windows facing outwards, we were met with a rifle platoon of Marines, all covered in dirt and grime of days of fighting, their eyes dialed in like predators.

"Where's the officer in charge of all you?" I breathed out as I felt my ribs restrict my breathing from the short jog. The men only looked around gingerly, before one of them slowly brought his left hand up from his weapon and pointed to a man in a 'Captain Morgan' stance at a window sill. I marched up to him quickly while safetying my weapon, only to be struck when his rank insignia was that of a Gunnery Sergeant. Without missing a beat and never removing himself from his binos, the Gunny responded. "Lieutenant died 12 minutes ago pal, half the platoon with 'em… Anything I can help you with?"

I brought both hands to my hips as my team simple found firing positions and proceeded to join the rest of the Marines in killing them enemy. Of course with his weapons, Cooper simply looked over them to make sure everyone was holding up okay while Jones fiddled with his radio pack. "Look, 52nd's been pounding this grid with ordnance for hours now, why the hell are we stalled out here?" The Gunnery Sergeant, with his bald head and light brown stubbly only shoved his binos into my chest while chewing his gum. I got the gesture before handing them back to him and magnifying the sight through my helmet. As I did so I heard him mumble something along the lines of, "Forgot y'all had mailboxes on your heads." I ignored the comment and looked further.

As the image focused I saw a small machine gun battery laying waste to any advancing Marines. Alongside it I caught glimpses of AT soldiers, almost everybody their was hosting some kind of heavy weapon. "I don't know what it is, but that nest's got some tech that makes it invisible to any air support we've got. Their AT has been ripping our tanks to shreds if we try to get close, all while those damn MG's cut down any teams we send up!" As he finished his sentence a single beam rifle shot echoed out across the city. I then heard a small rattle and silence, I turned around and saw a single Marine now slumped over his rifle, we quickly ducked into cover, the sniper acting as a period to the Sergeants point.

"As long as that nests there, we can't move any of our guys further without the risk of condensing our forces in one area!" I nodded quickly before shooting towards Cooper who was leaning against a wall out of the line of sight. "Cooper, prep the team to move out!" He nodded before grabbing his shotgun off his back and dramatically pumping it. I then pointed at Sierra who was still in a snipers stance against the windows frame. "Sierra, deal with that fucking sniper already!" She sent a small 2-finger salute back with her supporting hand, "on it boss!"

"Gunnery Sergeant, get your men ready to advance, once that MG nest is out of commision I'm gonna need you to organize a good push to our position. Last thing I need is to get stranded out there!" I tapped him on the chest plate only for him to shake his head in disbelief. "With all due respect sir, 'yer not a Spartan. Your team ain't taking that thing all by 'yerself." I flicked the safety off my BR and re-positiond the sling on it. "We're not taking it… We're gonna paint it!" A finalizing bang of Sierras rifle rang out in the building with my statement, she got him. I held a single finger up in the air and spun it around in a circular motion before backing up. "Onyx we're Oscar Mike!"

With all said and done our team filled out of the building and up the cracked and burned road that was beginning to be swallowed by the war zone around it. Our hunched over forms spread out as we cut off the street and onto the remains and entrails of the disemboweled buildings and structures that once surrounded us. We sprinted over to a build up of ruble just between us and a long stretch of open ground before the MG nest.

"Check your shit, this is gonna get rough." As I said so a squad of retreating Marines crested over a small mound of shattered and deformed concrete. One was limping away with no rifle in sight, another was being dragged away while his buddy shot back at the Covenant with his sidearm. Finally, the only healthy one of the group back peddled while laying down cover fire. All was for nought however as they were quickly cut down by the plasma turrets. Martinez, being the smart ass he is, saw it as a moment to open his goddamn mouth. "Looks like us in a few minutes boss?"

My head swivelled back as I let it hand in a disappointed manor. "'Ya know out of the shit that I missed while i was on my little field trip… You're voice was not one of them." I turned back as I brought the stock of my BR55 up into my shoulder. "Sierra, get some height and give us some overwatch, Martinez go with her." They both nodded before climbing up the mountains of dirt and debris around us. I held my hand up as I watched over the gauntlet ahead, patiently biding my time until a moment presented itself.

My patience paid off as a Scorpion must've fired a stray shot, the shell struck the ground only a few meters away from the MG nest and was met with AT fire in return. My hand shot down as I exploded off the edge off of the mound and quickly up the path of bodies. The sprint felt long and stretched out as we occasionally had to jump over a corpse or 2. As we got within 100 meters of their position we slammed into side of a destroyed tank. It's top was completely blown off and the poor bastard manning the machine gun was hunched over the weapon.

"Jones get Vulture on the line, have 'em ready to hit a target. Mark is red smoke, danger close, heavy ordnance." He quickly dropped to one knee and began brought a single finger up to his ear. "Vulture this is Onyx 1-4 reporting for Onyx actual, Prep strike package, 105 and 30mm, target is red smoke." I propped my weapon onto the top of the tank and took 3 shot burst at a Jackal who had gotten a little to curious for my liking. As his body hit the ground and rolled down from their nest I could see the plasma turrets turn towards us. I ducked back into cover and awaited the vapor trails of Sierras rifle to line the air.

As expected the sharp gunshots of her weapon firing in the distance alongside the whistles of the rounds sailing over my head were a clear indication of her actions. I looked over to Jones one last time who simple gave me a small thumbs up and readied his weapon. "Alright… Give me some fire so I can toss this shit!" I shouted over the gunfire around us. The rest of Onyx popped out of cover and began firing rapidly, yet with intent, into the MG nest. I then immediately hopped out of cover and took 5 steps forward, just at the base of their fortifications. Quickly igniting the flare and tossing it roughly 50 or so meters before running back.

As I ran back to the tank with less than 3 steps to go, I saw Kerry shift to look at me and raise his weapon. I cringed as I prepared to get shot in the ass only to get flung forward head over heel and landing on my back. I coughed violently as I began really feeling the pain I had reluctantly ignored in my ribs for days earlier. Cooper quickly ran to me and grabbed my shoulder straps before dragging me back behind the tank, we then quickly held our heads as close to the ground as possible and awaited the thunder.

The screeching of the rounds falling from the sky moment before hitting their target filled me with dread.

Only for that feeling to be filled with shear terror as the boom, shockwave, and clouds of dust preceded it, the force of it all nearly kicked us out of cover.

"Reeves… If you ever call in air support on a target less than 50 meters away again… I'll fucking kill you myself." Wheezed out Matthews as he rolled around in pain. I could only laugh hysterically through our shared agony in response. We slowly climbed to our feet and made sure to check our head, nobody was too hurt. I brought my finger up to the side of my helmet and activated my push-to-talk. "Good effect on target Vulture… Thanks for the assist." Only to change channels one more time and contacting the Gunnery Sergeant. "Gunny, get some Marines up here now!"

Needless to say, we all wanted to kill something at this point. We approached the remains of their fortification, weapons at the ready. As we crested the small hill they had emplaced themselves on I was given a full view of the damage we'd caused. All different colors of blood soaked the ground beneath us with plenty of pieces left to make it look like a broken jigsaw puzzle. As I moved a little closer I noticed a single Elite crawl out of an overturned Ghost, I pointed the barrel of my rifle in his direction and planted 2 shots into his back, ending his life quickly.

"Onyx get a perimeter set, we're gonna have to hold this spot 'till they get their asses organized and up here!" I jogged to the farthest piece of cover on the small hill. It was the remainder of a Covenant barricade that had been blasted in half and was currently laying on its side. As my team did the same we caught a glimpse of an oncoming force, must've been maybe 3 platoons of infantry. It was a counter-attack alright. "Vulture some air support would be nice right now!" I shouted at the plasma started flying at us.

I popped out of cover on one knee and fired off 6 rounds into the advancing targets. Each moving from one piece of cover to the next while suppressing us if they could. "Negative actual, hostiles are too close to your position for an-SHIT!" I slide behind the barricade once again and slammed another magazine into my rifle. I quickly looked up into the sky, my HUD tracking Vulture's position, only to see them break off of their orbit around us while deploying flares. "BANK RIGHT, BANK RIGHT!" the action was fruitless however, as they did so a pair of green fuel rod plasma struck the left wing sending the gunship into a loose spiral. "WE'RE HIT, GOING DOWN IN GRID SQUARE TANGO WHISKEY 234-12-!" The feed cut short as a distant explosion was seen as if impacted the hard ground below it.

As I slapped the bolt on my BR55 forward I looked back to see Martinez and Sierra in a low-crouched jog, as they followed up behind us into their firing positions. "We just lost air support!" Martinez examined while dumping a full mag into the enemies down the hill from us. Only for Matthews to drop to a knee from his waist high cover, a busted Banshee, and respond. "No shit Sherlock, just keep shooting!" Only for him to insert a fresh grenade into his launcher. "What's the play boss, got like 35+ bad guys in our face!" Kerry quipped out while dodging a needle round.

I leaned out once more and let off 2 rapid bursts into the, now growing, crowd. Seeing each bullet hit its mark and kill the intended target in a rainbow of colored bloods. "Just sit tight and wait for the rest of the company!" I went to fire again only for a beam rifle shot to chip off the corner of the barricade right beforehand.

"'Ya know this doesn't really feel like they're retreating!?" I don't think I have to explain who said that but Martinez was surely the culprit. I saw him break out of cover and, while still firing and hitting targets, walk over to me calmly. "Martinez, one of these days a Grunts gonna put one right where 'yer big mouth is." Came from Cooper who was methodically blasting off the limbs of approaching targets with his slugs. Martinez went to say something else only for Sierra to break her focus off her sniper scope and look at him directly. "Riley… Focus!" Everyone's eyes shot to her, her typically quiet demeanor was now broken by the sting in her voice. If it weren't for the helmet, her eyes may of killed him on the spot.

"Gunny, we lost our air support and got lots of bad guys but not enough bullets to go around!" I shouted over comms while nursing one of my ribs slightly. "Kerry, need something to take the edge off!" I yelled from about 20 feet away. He quickly unstrapped his med-bag before pulling out a syringe, bigger than my middle finger, and tossing it to me. I promptly pulled off the cap, exposing the sharp needle on top, before slamming it into my leg. I felt the slight sting of the sharp object, only for it to be replaced with the soothing relief later. It may affect my aim a bit but I've trained to work while under the use of painkillers.

"Yeah, just got the company back on its feet. We'll be there in 4 minutes!" I rolled my eyes behind the visor. "We don't have 4 minutes, make it 2!" I then rolled from behind my piece of safety and onto my stomach before taking aim at an Ultra running towards us. "Won't have too, saw some guys like you headed your way 'bout a minute ago!" I didn't ponder the meaning behind that as I placed my sights on the Elites chest. Letting off a 3-round burst only for it to shatter harmlessly against the little flicker of its shields.

So I do so again, this time causing the beast to stutter back from the force of the hit as its shields began glowing a bright blue. Another burst and the Ultra was now stepping backwards and protecting itself with its arm, the shield was nearly broken and dissipated on the last shot. With its defenses gone and nowhere to hide I made a quick switch to semi-auto and fired a single round into its skull. The round punchered through the shiny white armor and a mist of purple appeared behind it, before hitting the ground of course.

I swapped mags a final time and decided it'd be best to check on rounds.

"Ammo check!" I waited for a response as I slid the bolt back and ejected the used mag swiftly. My ears were tuned to only hear one thing, but I heard it about 3 times.

"Last mag, I'm dry, empty over here!" Deruld was on his last drum mag for his SAW, Matthews was down to his sidearm at this point, while Cooper was helplessly firing a small SMG at them. Not what I enjoyed hearing. "No giving up now, wait until their close then open up with whatever you've got left. Everyone else just thin the herd!" I hollered while throwing away my 3rd to last cartridge. Lucky me, I'd restocked before coming out here.

"Gunny, ETA, we're throwing rocks here!" I awaited a response before popping out one more time and firing of almost half my mag into the oncoming group. Ultra, Majors, and even 2 Marshalls were what we had to deal with. If you're not aware, if those guys show up then you've got all kinds of high-level infantry with heavy weapons to deal with. Well trained and unrelenting in nature, these bastards were a cut above the usual split-jaws.

As my thought finished up in a nice bow a single round from a plasma pistol struck my battered shoulder pad. The force of the impact knocked me off my feet and sent a sharp ache through the allocated body part. Kerry made to run to me only for my hand to shoot up in protest, I crawled back behind my barricade which was being chipped away second by second, to look at the damage. Nothing major, it burned through most of the plating but just enough to keep it from the skin, just another close call. As our unwanted visitors marched up the hill, making tactical hand gestures and laying down more and more fire, we found ourselves having less time to return it.

We slowly began backing up from our high ground as they crossed over the hill. I was down to my last few rounds as they approached. Almost the entirety of Onyx was using nothing but our SOCOM's or whatever Covenant weaponry we could find on the ground beneath us. As my weapon ran empty and the haunting clicks of my rifle were drowned out over the sounds of everything, a single Ultra ignited its energy dagger and rushed our position. With only small caliber weapons in its way, its shielding allowed it to approach almost uninterrupted.

It made a sharp cut to its left out of the way of an overturned Ghost and pushed forward towards Kerry. His weapon ran empty and as he reached for another magazine the Elite shoved him to the ground and prepared to jump on him. And so I witnessed, my own weapon doing almost nothing against it, I wasn't going to watch my men die here. As the Ulta raised its right arm to plunge it into Kerry's chest I charged forward, my hands out ready to make a tackle of a lifetime. As its hand raced downwards only inches from his chest I slammed into its side and knocked it over, like a tree falling at a lumber mill.

The battle continued as we rolled over each other, collecting ash and dust all over. He was clearly overpowering me in the grapple, that was obvious. But believe it or not this wasn't my first time wrestling one of these fuckers. This one was good though, it quickly grabbed hold of my wrist and began crushing it with its grip. I ignored the protests of pain in my right arm as I swerved my head out of the way of its dagger coming down. Skillfully slamming my helmets bulky head-front into the Ultras own helmet seemed to get it to loosen its grip on my right arm. I used the opportunity to slip it away and retrieve my own blade from my left shoulder strap. I the placed my left forearm across its chest and curled my legs up to press against its stomach, creating a divide between us, a divide I controlled.

The bastard wasn't ready to give up yet. As I went to plunge my own knife into its neck it moved its head free and brought down its open arm onto my chest. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of me clean and left me in a weakened state. As it went to stab again I used its own inbalance to shift its moment as it came down into a roll, putting me on top. Now bringing down the knife with both hands we were in a pure strength competition as it held my back. One that it was clearly winning.

As it began lifting my hands above my head, overpowering me with ease, it broke away one of its fists and struck me in the stomach. My hands went numb as the blade helplessly fell to the ground and every breath in my body raced outwards. It brought back its hand one more time and ignited the energy dagger, as I prepared for the stinging sensation of the sharp plasma 3 shots rang out. Through my blurry vision I saw the bright blue of its shields flicker and crack as it let go of me and began scrambling away. I hit the ground with a thud, my ass sticking up in the air.

I could care less, my body had reached its limit, that punch must of collapsed something. Every breath was a struggle between weakened lungs. No amount of painkillers would stop the aching and sting of everything I felt. As I rolled over onto my back I looked to my side, catching a glimpse of my savior. To my surprise it wasn't the Gunny, but Metal team of 1st Force Recon. Their IFF tags appearing on my HUD quickly, they spread out and began clearing the area of any remaining bad guys. To even more shock, Granite team was alongside them they were a specialized team handling longer reconnaissance missions than most. When it came to the wilds, these guys were second to none.

Through my distorted senses I noticed Metal team's leader, Staff Sergeant Estin, point to one of his men then to me. He then quickly ran out of my field of view and into the firefight ahead while my team, battered and bruised, followed along. A Corpsman, specifically a SARC, ran up to before slinging his rifle behind his back and dragging me backward. I was starting to get my bearings again but whether I could fight was a different story. "Sit still, I can't use anymore stimulants or else you hear rate will drop to low for me to keep you awake." I only nodded slowly and gave him a weak thumbs up. He began removing my helmet and I prepared for the breath of fresh air, when it did come, I was blasted in the face by just how awful everything around us smelled.

"Alright, you're suffering from couple internal breaks, less serious than I thought, not much I can already do since you've still got painkillers in you. Best I can say is to hold out until we can get you to a proper trauma unit." I only nodded again and took in a long breath on all fours. "Getting to old for this shit kid…." He only chuckled as a response before jogging off with the best of his team. I coughed up some flem, spitting the god forsaken substance out of my mouth and onto the dirt beneath me. I shook my head 2 times and grabbed my helmet from off the ground and shakily placed it on my head.

"Better get fucking overtime for this shit!" I hissed out as I slightly limped up the battlefield. As I reached the top of the hill again I found myself next to a pile of freshly slain corpses, I surveyed the rest of the battle in front of us and nearly shed a tear at its beauty. A full Battalion was now pushing up the right side of the hill and putting the Covenant into full retreat, all while an armored detachment supported from the left. They'd put to many of their forces into the counter-attack on this hill which left any remaining forces heavily outmanned, outgunned, and outmaneuvered. As Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Brutes, and Elites were cut down by the superior fire power of our Battalion, I could only watch in awe at the spectacle. Not that it was just us.

Atlas tanks were pushing across the middle and dropping their own fair amount of bodies at a rapid pace, their infantry was shouting and hollering as they mowed down low-level combatants with ease. Must've been one hell of a morale booster to push them outta their homes. As my thoughts concluded a single memory came to mind. The Major!?

"Baseplate come in, do you read, over." I quietly inquired over radio while walking away from the group. A few seconds went by with no reply before the frequency came to life. "Copy Reeves, what 'ya need?" His voice was much more calm and collected than it was before. No longer did he seem distressed or desperate, rather, he seemed happy actually. "You uh, wanna explain what the hell you were going on about with Atlas?" I chirped back somewhat annoyed with the days turn of events. "Oh…" was my only response.

"'Oh' What 'ya mean 'oh'?" My hands flew about in a confused fashion, I was an expressive person with hand gestures. "Look I'll explain later, but not here and not now. Not on the radio…" His voice got a little quieter and serious for a moment before switching back to his usual southern self. "Besides, you all just kicked the Covenant out of Atlas. Drinks are on me!" He cut the feed abruptly leaving me shaking my head in disapproval. Not that it mattered though, now that Atlas was finally alien free, all UNSC ground forces, would probably be returning to our ships to hunt down the last remnants of the Covenant fleet sent here. Then CENTCOM would try and find us a way to close that portal, I could see them getting real tired of this fucking planet, I was too.

I lit a flare before harmlessly dropping it onto the ground beneath me. The rest was fairly quick. Marine rifle companies made quick work of any stragglers, almost all of enemy transportation was blasted out of the sky alongside an extra Corvette thanks to the Navy intervening directly. Only about 2 or 3 must've been left at this point, on Remnant at least. God forbid they send anything bigger or we'd have a fucking problem.

Atlas forces were quick to start clearing our more defined roads in the now barren wasteland that was the downtown sector of the city. All while the Atlesian news reporters were having a frenzy, some claimed the whole thing to of been a home victory for Atlas while glossing over the UNSC's place in it. A few attempted to even come up and interview us, now some may not know this, but you can't really directly interview most Special Operations guys. Hell, half the time we aren't even allowed to tell people what unit we work with. So we gave them the usual responses, what we'd done in vague descriptions, they seemed to be somewhat satisfied with that at least.

The rest passed like a blur as a Pelican picked Granite, Metal, and my guys all up for a quick commute to FOB Spectre. There Major Grant would be waiting for us in an even smaller command tent that what should've been available. Fortifications were being torn down, crates loaded up into aircraft, almost everything was already being packed up and sent back to our ships. Like I said earlier, nobody wanted to be here anymore.

We stepped into the tent later than we should've, I stopped at one of the last remaining temporary medical facilities and the doctors did the best they could with what was available. Funny enough, I actually caught glimpse of team RWBY helping some of the medical personnel clean up they looked awful however. A result of my teams deadly encounter with them a few days ago. They didn't get a chance to talk to me, thank God, didn't want to spend an hour explaining how I survived.

"Alright Grant you've got some explaining to do." I found a foldable chair and spun it around sitting backwards in it. He only responded by taking a swig from his flask and glaring at me. "Good to see you too Reeves." I only smiled devilishly in return.

"Let's just get out of here quick alright… The transmission you received earlier today wasn't from me. It was a dummy signal piggybacking off of our already established relay's. The message was intercepted by our techs and traced back to its point of origin." The holo-table then switched to satellite photos of a small worn-down communications array, with small but insignificant defenses around it. "The individuals responsible was a 3rd-party member later identified by ONI as Cinder Fall. They used a civilian signal and some intel had put the possibility of civilians on site. As to how they found that out, they might've gotten into some of Atlas' criminal archives, I don't know and frankly I don't care." There was a long pause as that sank in. This bitch had just attempted to turn UNSC against Atlas, nearly worked too, I mean technically we were already 'unofficially' at war with Remnant but that's besides the point.

"Now obviously I don't need to tell you that this is a problem-" I held up a finger and my faced cringed openly. "Grant if you tell my team to go raid that fucking array I will shoot in the ass." My boys had been worked like dogs ever since they got here and needed at least a days rest. We'd be good to go tomorrow but I wasn't sending them back out anytime soon. The Major only shuffled in his place before tapping his pen against the table and the image changed to a video feed. Everything seemed normal before a small blur flew onto the screen and the once rusted and depraved building was turned into a pile of smoldering metal. "Well, to be frank, the UNSC is done with this subtlety bullshit and decided to just drop a bomb on the place instead." There was a moment of silence.

And then Martinez started chuckling, and then Matthews, and Deruld, Kerry, and so on. Next thing we know everyone, even the techs and lower officer, is laughing hysterically as the video replays and loops over and over again. Don't really know why but we just couldn't stop, I fell out of my chair and my sides began punching at me while I laughed uncontrollably. I mean for fucks sake, he even said that their might've been innocent civilians on site but we just couldn't contain ourselves.

"Jesus man you had me scared there for a second!" I wheezed out while wiping away a tear. I let out a sigh of relief between my short choppy breaths of laughter, for a moment I was petrified with the idea of going back out to the middle of nowhere and raiding a building. Time wasn't on our side and the closer I could stay to the exit the better.

We finally calmed ourselves and regained our lost composure as the Major cleared his throat and stood at a parade rest. Still minutely chuckling under his fist.

"As you can probably tell CENTCOM had ordered a full scale withdrawal of the planet. ONI has analyzed the source of the portal and has concluded that in order to close it…" The table then changed to an image of a singular pillar that was sharp in design and chrome in color. "We'll need to do it manually from these 3 pillars. 2 are currently housed here on Remnant, one in Menagerie, and another in Vacuo. As of lately we've had diplomats sent to Menagerie's pillar; codenamed: Sentinel, in attempts to get the locals to let us through. They haven't budged one bit and have alerted other Remnant powers of our presence there. The 3rd pillar is on the planet in which this whole shit started from." I rolled my eyes in my chair while holding back a hateful scoff, fucking animals. It was at this moment that Deruld spoke up, a rare occurrence.

"The hell they do that for? Don't the Faunus and Humans hate each other?" He made a good point. This would've been an amazing decision in return for some of our weapons and tech. Which would've been a fair trade considering we'd never be back here again. "Well we hated the Insurrectionists until the Covenant arrived, war has a way with that… As for how the UNSC plans to proceed. It'll get bloody." I began shifting in my chair and already envisioning the mission ahead. Another black op?

"At this point the chain of command has about enough of everyone's shit and has practically declared 'fuck it'. A diversionary invasion of Menagerie and Vacuo has been planned in order for you and another Tier 1 team to get access to pillars." My eyes went wide with shock. This was blunt, even for the UNSC's standards. By all means I had no moral conflict, the decision was just a surprise. "That seems a bit rash don't 'ya think!?" Shouted out Kerry from the front of the group. One hand on his belt, another gripping the top of his plate carrier.

"Well in most cases yes… But we've got bigger problems at hand." The image on the table then morphed into that of a CAS Class Assault Carrier accompanied with 5 CCS Cruisers. "A small fleet just arrived and cut our Naval blockade outside the portal in half. In less than 3 hours they'll be all over Remnant. The plan is to draw them in, and lock the door behind them while our ships get the fuck out." If we were uncertain about the plan then, we were devoted now. There was no way in hell our band of ships could take on that much firepower, it was them or us at this point, and I'd rather it be them.

"The plans already been laid out, right now it's just up to you Reeves, which pillar is your team taking?" The 2 locations appeared again, this time with designated names above them while they rotated on the table. Menagerie was designated " _Sentinel"_ of course while Vacuo was dubbed " _Guardian"_ the choice may of seemed inconsequential but its impact was deep. From what I'd seen the Covenant would be all over Vacuo, they wanted to keep that portal open just as much as Remnant did. Vacuo on the other hand would have lots of angry fucking Faunus swarming us. Either way it would be a textbook suicide mission, was my next decision honorable, probably not; but by God I swore to protect my team.

"We'll take Sentinel, have a Spartan team handle Vacuo, they can take the Covenant."

Major Grant then broke off his parade rest and like Pontius Pilate washing his hands, sealed our fates. "Alright, A Pelican will take you up to a Frigate which will transport you there. Mission details will be discussed enroute to Menagerie. Gentleman, this is the big one." He hesitated only for a moment before regaining his stone cold face.

"I have faith in your team Reeves…" He then left the command tent with a briefcase in tow. We followed suit and as we left what remained of FOB Spectre my only thoughts went to the people I'd met here. Their faces, we'd basically just sentenced every life here to a death penalty.

No… This planet would burn just like every other we'd left behind. Bodies are just a product of war… Nothing more.

 **And so the Endgame has arrived, I plan on giving possibly 2 more chapters before I wrap this story up. It's been a journey but I feel I've done my part to separate this fic from others. Showing the UNSC as more of an antagonist rather than saviors was definitely my favourite part of it and each chapter where Onyx team went 'black' were a joy to write.**

 **I cannot thank you guys enough for all you've done for this story. I've exploded onto this platform in ways I never knew possible. With this said I hope I can make the ending satisfying. However, I do plan on writing another fic afterwards.**

 **I have 2 ideas in mind, another RWBY crossover with Destiny(I don't have a thing for RWBY crossovers I just think the 2 mesh well) or a Titanfall universe story.**

 **As always… I'll write to you all in the final chapter**


	15. Chapter 13 Curtain Call

Chapter 13

Curtain Call

"We sure about this boss…" Matthews let out from his seat next to me in the Pelican. It was eerily quiet inside, not even Martinez was cracking a joke. "Don't have much of a choice, do we Matt?" He nodded in response, his helmet in-between his feet. "Those poor people won't know what hit 'em once we're down there." This inquisition came from Deruld, solemnly sitting in the corner near the cockpit. I attempted to reply but the words just couldn't form on my tongue, I simply sat backwards and let my body relax as we neared the Frigate. Feeling the aircraft slowly decelerate and the bump if the tires hitting the metal landing pads. The hum of the engine and blare of the jets fading out as we all slowly stood up, finally feeling the adrenaline fade and the fatigue set in. The ramp dropped with a horrifying screech and we began exiting.

All around us Marines, Crewman, and anybody with a set of hands, were rushing around. Moving crates on trolleys, packing up supplies, re-locating the heavy equipment used down there, and guiding vehicles to the bay. We stood still, viewing the controlled chaos before us, which was a costly mistake. A team of Crewman rushed by us and loaded up onto the Pelican wwe had just used to land here, loading it up with all sorts of lifting equipment as the pilot began take-off procedures. We quickly cleared out of the area and made our way to a small catwalk suspended a couple feet off the flight deck. As the Pelican roared once again and shot out into the night sky only to descend towards the city below, I watched with a baited breath. This was the result of thousands of cogs all working their part, not questioning why they were lifting 80 pound boxes and moving them from one side of the room to the other, just working.

"What now?" Sierra shouted out over all the noise of the hangar bay. I rotated my head towards her and removed my helmet, as I did so my team did the same. "Way I see it… Got maybe 30 minutes before we start moving, about another 30 until we get called for a briefing. Then if we're lucky… 2 hours to gear up and plan out the mission." I reached into a utility pouch and drew a fat, brown, cigar. Placing it in my mouth and patting my body for my lighter. "I recommend you get some sleep… That's all" I found my lighter and waved them off with my free hand. I could hear their sighs of relief as they dispersed and groggily walked through a set of automatic doors leading to the bunks and mess hall.

I ignited my lighter and cupped the flame with my hand as I raised it up to the cigar. Letting the fire burn the edge of the cylinder and taking in a breath of it. Removing it only seconds after and blowing out the smoke.

The noise on the flight deck was deafening, NCO's were screaming at their men to do whatever it is they were doing faster, the PA system was constantly interrupting and notifying personnel of their tasks and giving out status updates. That wasn't even including all the bells and whistles that were blaring underneath all of it. It was only in that moment that I realized how tired I'd become, how worn out I was. The faces only got younger and younger around here, I only got older. The men have been looking at me like I'm a fossil, strange considering I'm not even out of my 30's. My body had been pierced, cut, broken, and bruised time and time again; my knees were starting to give way. Soon enough, and I'm sure of it, a youthful version of me will roll along and take over once I finally take an unlucky shot to the dome. That's the nature of any military, when the war is rough, new meat roll in like a conveyor belt; all capable of doing the same shit you've done but better. I knew it, my men knew it, even the higher-ups who didn't want to admit it knew it. The time would come where I'd be replaced and scrapped for a newer model, I'm on borrowed time.

"Hey man what did they do to all those civilians that we grabbed from Vale?" An Australian Marines asked his buddy who was attempting to lift a crate of weapons that seemed glued to the floor. "Well I sure as shit haven't seen 'em since things in Atlas got blurry. Last I heard, ONI had the whole area on lockdown and that was that." I turned from my thoughts and faced the 2 men. The first voice was from an Australian man with a light-brown complexion, the other was of Asian ethnicity but with a very Americanized accent. I tossed my cigar off the catwalk and took a step towards the 2 men and squatted down, placing both my hands under the crate. "'Ere, lemme help 'ya out." I grunted out as I began lifting the heavy box of deadly instruments. He gestured with his to a cart a couple meters away and we quickly walked over to it before placing it down onto with a thud. A crewmen then quickly ran over and whisked the thing away to God knows where.

"Aye, thanks man." The ozzy let out with a gasp of air while stretching his back. I waved off the gesture, saying something along the lines of 'don't mention it'. As the 2 picked up their rifles which I'd failed to notice were laying against the catwalk railing, I turned away but as I did so pivoted against my back foot to face them once again. "Oh and by the way, whatever you guys were talking about on ONI… Drop it, you'll live longer." I said with a smile as I then turned away once again and walked myself off the lively flight deck. And in that moment I realized, after all we'd done for the good of ourselves. The people killed, the sabotage, betrayal and all, what we'd go down in their history as. What generations of children would read about in school and look at each other in shock when they heard about what we did, we were the bad guys… And I didn't feel a thing.

I walked past the mess hall and armory, needless to say it was busy as all hell. I pushed past groups of Marines and the occasional Naval officer only to find myself at the showers. I quickly took off all my gear and proceeded to take a cold, lonely, and frankly pretty boring shower. I then took my dirty BDU and threw it in with the rest to be cleaned. I wasn't long until I got them back myself and threw on the pants with the tight compression shirt overtop, the word 'MARINES' plastered across the chest. I took all my gear and carried it back to our bunks and began sorting through the shit. Removing pouches of all sort until nothing but the plate was bare. I didn't know what this next mission would hold and so I wanted a blank slate to work with, crafting a kit is a lot like building something. Each piece has its own function and purpose, any idiot can throw on some mag pouches and would be set for most jobs; but guys like us have to make sure we bring the right tool for the right job. I layed all of my gear and accessories out onto my rack and then found a seat in the corner of the room. Using a datapad to pull up any intel I had been given prior on the pillar we'd be handling.

 _Sentinel_ was only a couple kilometers off the main shoreline of Menagerie, the whole thing practically erupted from the ground once the portal initially opened. Plenty of civilians structures and activity as far as anybody else was concerned. It was a little deeper into the bush than I would've liked but at least it gives us an easy out if shit hit the fan, which was all but guaranteed. What I was more concerned about was, basically, everything else. The remainder of Remnants armed forces had gathered at Menagerie once they figured out what we were up to, from what I heard the diplomats were killed along with their security detail. Airships, Naval destroyers, and plenty of ground troops all stood between us and our ticket off this fucked up piece of dirt. I don't care who you are, that's a fight nobody wants. Hell, they probably didn't even know what the damn thing did but decided to keep us away from it seeing as we've fucked them over plenty.

In all honesty I agreed with the decision, denying the enemy what they want is usually a good strategy. But frankly, they had no clue what was coming, once we left this godforsaken world and locked them away with a handful of CCS' and CAS ships they'd know why we did what we did. The only thing we could do now was pray a CSO Supercarrier didn't decide to show up because why the fuck not.

"Yo, Reeves!" I my head shot up at an alarming speed, causing it to sting slightly once I'd settled in on the voice in question. There, leaning into the doorframe was Matthews, one hand hold his helmet and the other on his hip. "Briefings about to start, thought I might come and get you." I fished around in my pocket and pulled out and old, scratched, pocket watch. It was a gift from my mentor, Captain Jacobs, along with my old team when I was younger. I flipped it open and noticed that, in my mental cave I'd constructed, I'd nearly fallen late to the briefing. I stood up from the chair, hearing the bones in my body crack and moan with displeasure, I then promptly exited the barracks and headed towards the briefing room.

Inside of the small room was a single holographic table situated directly in the center, with a couple terminals on the walls. As I looked over the room I noticed 2 other Force Recon teams alongside my own, Saber and Viking were present and currently looking at me. Saber's team leader, Master Sergeant Martin, a young french male was currently leaning against the table while fiddling with a knife in his hands. Vikings team lead however, Sergeant Major abdula an older looking African male, was overlooking some asset management for the mission. Of course though, the Major remained at the front of the table with his hands at parade rest. "Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get to it." The tables image then shifted to a 3D imitation of the topography and geography surrounding _Sentinel._ "You all know the deal, we need to secure this site in order to close the portal while Spartan team Anvil takes the other. Get the job done and we're home free while the portal collapses in on itself." There was a pause as the diagram then morphed into a different location, showing the shores of Menagerie, guarded by enough firepower than even I was impressed.

"I don't really need to tell you all how to do you job, you've got 2 hours until we send you out and a blank cheque for whatever you need." The Major broke from his parade rest and pressed his finger onto the table. "Get it done!" He then promptly exited the briefing room with his hands behind his back and cap on his head. We all surveyed each other, taking a moment to process the task ahead and the chances of success, which for all intents and purposes, weren't very high.

"So… Where to start?" Martine coined at the idea while pressing his tongue against his cheek. I leaned over the table and pulled up rotating 3D model of a Pelican dropship. "Insertion of course, honesty to God I considered an old fashion HALO jump but I ruled it out once I saw the landing point." Martinez then stepped forward and highlighted a large hill on the Southern side of the pillar, maybe 600 meters away. "Yeah, and entering the AO on foot would be like trying to drive a screw through titanium. Best option is a hot landing ontop or on the other side of this hill. We'll have the high ground and pick off any security forces." The room all shook its head in unanimous agreement; it would be the path of least resistance afterall. After that, Sergeant Major Abdula stepped up and began rubbing the black flecks of hair on his face. "Yeah but AA's gonna be a bitch, I don't care how old their tech is. A heat-seeker is a heat-seeker." His statement was spot on, SAT images showed at least 3 SAM sites around the pillar, plenty of shoulder launched stuff too. I then cleared my throught and switched the display to show dozens of miniature Pelicans flying over the landscape of Menagerie with Frigates and Halcyons in the background. "That's why we have the diversionary invasion. With all that activity in the sky their missile launchers will have more targets than they can handle." I looked around one more time before circling an LZ, LZ Alpha, on the hill.

"Okay… Now that we've got that down, what do you think we've got in terms of manpower?" One of the other team members from Saber inquired. I bit my bottom lip and thought about it for a few moments before coming to a conclusion. "Chances are we're gonna be handling Spec Ops. They know we're coming and they know what we can do, hell I wouldn't be surprised if we had an unlucky Hunter team thrown at us. So expect some good shooters, VRT, Atlas Special Forces, Mistral Rangers, guys like us." The room came to a collective silence as I made sure to leave out the part where I trained one of those groups. "Probably numbering in the 30's-maybe 40." They seemed to like that answer. With that said, Matthews interrupted and pointed out what everybody wanted to know. "Armaments?" We all took a moment to briefly contemplate our options.

It would be an in 'n' out job so we didn't want to stay to long. Then again, we would be facing lots of opposition and plenty of unknowns so we needed the extra baggage. They wouldn't spare any expense to stop us, I expected everything, kitchen sink included. So it would probably be best to pack heavy with plenty of weapons that go boom or make some really big fucking holes. As I looked up to address the teams I was met with a synchronized answer. "Heavy weapons." We all shared a look of humour before continuing. "Grenade launchers, I want 2 guys to carry AT, 1 MG per team, and pack lots of ammo. Once we're down there all targets are valid so dump it all." With that said I went over the details in my head. LZ had been marked, expected manpower had been discussed, and an inventory was already selected. "Okay… I think that's all, gear up and I'll send this all to the Major and upload it to our link. Memorize it and make sure you know what the fuck you're doing down there. Good?" I scanned the room for any questions, and seeing none, I decided to end it there. "Alrighty then… Dismissed."

The room swiftly emptied leaving me alone at the table. It's ominous glow and hum of the display acting as a soothing melody in the background of my work. I compiled all of our requests and moved them into a seperate folder to be sent to the Major, we had about an hour before we reached Menagerie. By then the sun would only just be rising, and the forecast was predicted to be below optimal. A light mist and plenty of rain, low-visibility alongside plenty of environmental hazards would make this a home field advantage for the Faunus working with the rest of Remnants human forces. Our own equipment would even the fields though, but the prospect of an enemy being able to see me in the dark wasn't a good one. The biggest problem I saw was extraction, by the time we finally got our technicians inside of whatever that building was, we'd have the whole damn Continent coming down on us.

With the last of my requisition going into the folder I sent it to the Major and turned off the console. The lights went dead leaving me in a dark room, I walked over to the door and slid it open entering the bright halls of the Frigate. I made my way to the armory, the rest of the guys had a head start so I'd probably be the last man ready. Which was fine, gave them time to get settled in. From their we would head to the flight deck and do a final gear check, then we'd receive our designation name due to how big our team was, and we'd be off. As I continued walking I passed a group of Marines talking, one was eyeing me down the whole time as I passed. I thought nothing of it and continued; but as I reached the end of the hallway a single hand grabbed my shoulder and a blonde-haired Marined was face to face with me. I went to ask him just what the hell he needed but he beat me to it.

"So is it true that you guys were the ones who hit those Atlas targets?" He released my shoulder and took a step back when he realized that he was practically standing in my shadow. "Rumours started surfacing… An R&D facility got blown to high hell with a team of Specialists and a Bullhead. Then some guys dressed in black show up a few days later with a prisoner and a bag on his head?" My first reaction was to immediately deny but truth to God I couldn't deny it, I wasn't there. These were Coopers ops, I was… I was dead at the time.

"Couldn't tell 'ya son… I was dead back then." I said as I turned and began walking towards the armory door. The entrance slid open with a nice hiss, but was drowned with the sounds of loud chatter and weapons clicking and clacking. We weren't the only ones in there, Marine platoons were prepping for the invasion of Menagerie, Operation: Bait and Switch was the name being circulated. It didn't matter what it was called, we'd still be flying under the same heat.

"For fucks sake Patterson, are you trying to fucking make this more difficult!" A member of Saber team cried out in frustration while locking a piece of the now named Patersons armor in place. I began walking over to investigate while the conversation continued. "Look Henry, if you let us to do our job then trust me… these tear gas rounds will make our lives a lot easier." True to his word, Patterson had a line of grenades stretched our across his lower abdomen. The grenade bandolier had half tear gas 40mm and the other being 40mm HE. "Gentleman, what seems to be the problem." I inquired from behind Henry's back, his helmet and gear all in order. His voice echoed out his helmet and seemed young in tone. "Patty over here thinks we're stopping some riot." I leaned over his shoulder and examined the rest of Pattersons kit. His light brown hair was way past regulation and nearly draped over his eyes, I normally would have yelled at him but given our next problem I let it slide. His shoulders had bulky plates that ran nearly to the elbow and his forearms were covered with a thick padding. The same could be said about his legs, the chest piece remained the same.

"Looks fine to me… We're all going in under-armored if I'm being honest. He's got the right idea." As I heard the bickering begin i walked over to an empty station and began attending to myself. Strapping each piece onto myself slowly and methodically, in an almost ritualistic fashion. The loud sounds muffling out in the background as I felt every inch of plating touch my clothing and the cold steel chill my flesh. I packed every magazine my pouches could carry and slid my trusty combat knife into its sheath on my shoulder. Finally donning my helmet, hearing the metallic click of its base clicking into place on my head. The once dormant visor then sprung to life, my vitals appearing and weapons displaying on the top right corner. I stretched my neck and rolled my shoulders backwards, hearing a loud crack in my spine. I then grabbed my weapon and slung it over my side, turning to face the rest of the room. As I did so I noticed the only people left were Onyx, Saber, and Viking, each on looking at me.

I gave a quick nod and made my way out the room, each step felt heavier than the last. As we walked through the halls, Marines would look at us with curiosity. Even the Naval staff couldn't help themselves to the strange image. We obviously didn't look like grunts and we didn't try to hide that fact. Our last operation, while not black, certainly wasn't public. Most of these guys only knew they were invading Menagerie because they'd been told too, hell they probably didn't even know about the Covenant fleet. Why would they, everybody was just trying to make it back home at this point.

Would any of us even make it back? How many people would I lose against the endless hordes they'd throw at us? These questions would plague my mind for the rest of the trip to flight deck to no end. Since the day I founded Onyx, I'd never lost a single member. I'd of course lost comrades before, my old team Phoenix, and so many others. Actually, Sabre team is actually just the 3rd reincarnation of that team. The first team is somewhere rotting on and old world long forgotten in a disgusting sewer, killed by a drone hive. The second team was torn apart on botched evacuation attempt, their ride was ripped apart and burned inside out.

My thoughts came to an abrupt end when I found myself face to face with Major Grant on the flight deck. He raised his hand and I took it in my free hand, the other cradling my slung rifle. "You and your men ready?" He said with a lifted brow, normally I would give off the air of confidence with a cocky remark but not today not now. I simply nodded my head and gave a quick gesture for my team to start barding the Pelican. "Just give it to me straight Major, name and last details." He sighed and rubbed his chin before answering. "You're designation is Task Force Viper, as for any details I missed, techs picked up some strange chatter around the pillar. Definitely not military, stay sharp. We may have Hunters." He gave me a quick salute, which technically isn't something you do indoors but, I returned the respectful gesture. I turned quickly and boarded the the aircraft while onlooking Marines only gazed in confusion at what was going on before being ushered to their own aircraft that were much less armored than ours.

I made my way to the cockpit and introduced myself to the pilot, given our landing options this might be the last time I talk to them alive. I have a bad track record with flying after all. I then promptly sat down and began strapping myself down with the overhead bar. Most people would compare this to a rollercoaster, except ours flew at 3x that speed and regularly got shot at. It was only then I realized just how fucking crazy this all was, here we were, a bunch of people sitting in a fucking metal bird, strapped in for dear life. Our heads stayed fixed on the guy in front of us, not moving an inch, making us look more like robots with our helmets than anything.

The ramps of the Pelican closed shut and I could feel the metal cage come to life with a slight hum and then a loud roar. The audio of our pilots going through their usual take-off procedures were the only coherent sound as I prepared for the sudden blast of movement that we'd experience as the Pelican fired out of the hangar like a bullet. Just as I'd thought, the exact thing happened. My head was slammed into the back of my seat as the G's of the launch hit like a truck. Within a few minutes the force had been replaced with the sounds of gunfire and flak-fire that shook the aircraft. "Less than 6 minutes to the LZ, it's gonna get hot." The pilot shouted from the cockpit, to which I swiftly unstrapped myself from the harness and stood up. Walking to the small window in the back of the Pelican to observe the chaos.

"Uh boss… Might wanna sit down?" Martinez hollered from the farthest seat, safely strapped up like a child in a booster seat. I peered through the glass with complete astonishment at the scene behind us. Squadron upon squadron sprawled out against the night sky like a tapestry. Atlas fighters swooped and dove at our own aircraft, the smaller more nimble of our flyboys would keep their birds off of our troop transports. Streams of AA fire waved upwards from the ground, creating a line of bullets. As I gazed downwards I saw the Remnant Naval fleet engaging all of their weapons on our aerial assault. "Martinez, trust me we'll be lucky if we get 15 seconds to get off this bird. All of you get unstrapped and ready for a hotdrop!" With that I racked the charging handle on my rifle as the Pelican shook once more, nearly taking me off my feet.

"3 Minut-FUCK WE GOT A BOGEY!" The pilot called out once more before rolling the aircraft violently. Seeing as the aircraft could either focus on landing or fighting this new threat I made a risky call. I ran over to the side of the Pelican passenger cabin and slammed my fist on a button, the light inside went from red to green as the ramp opened alongside a fresh MG to use. I pulled down a small cable that was attached to the top of the fuselage and hooked myself to it before ripping back the bolt 2 times and firing at the agile fighter in a vain attempt to get it to kindly fuck off. My attempt worked as it slowly began lessening its attack runs until a friendly Longsword took the thing out in a fiery wreck. "Alright, Viper get ready for a hot drop." As we began descending and moving faster and faster I could see the literal legions of enemies below, all with the single goal of making our lives difficult. "60 seconds… Get read-!" The Pelican took a single rocket to the left wing, the force of which flipped it over mid air and began its descent. We became human pinballs in their as our small cables barely held us inside the passenger cabin. Before I knew it everything went black.

My eyes slowly opened, my body began screaming at me in fits of agony, I rose groggily to my feet. Leaning against the edge of the overturned Pelican. "Status!" The sparks and internal lifeblood of the machine we were in sputtering and spewing around the cabin. "… Kerry's dead, Griffin too, don't even get me started on the pilots." I walked over to where Mathews was overlooking. True to his word Kerry's helmet had been broken apart and his skull was split open, spilling his brains onto the floor. Griffin had simply died from internal damage one of the other team medics deduced. "Shit." I whisper under my breath with remorse, his death was on me. "Grab anything we might need, they won't need it anymore." As I exited the Pelican I could see my team forming at perimeter around the crash site. Jones was already checking maps and setting up comms. "Where are we Jones, I'd like to get a move on." He slung his rifle behind his back and began tapping onto his wrist pad quickly before responding. "Uh, we missed the landing point. We're not too far of course, actually we're closer. Just over this next clearing should be the objective."

"Good, everyone, let's go…" I then swapped over to the command channel and pressed my push to talk. "Big Eye, Viper is Oscar Mike to Sentinel, out." I raised my rifle into a low hold and began jogging towards the clearing. As I did so the sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the midnight air, their lights illuminating the sky for only seconds at a time. The humidity had caused a light fog to roll in over the hills as we approached, further worsening the already low-visibility. "Go dark, switch to NVG's. Less they see the better." I whispered over our internal comm link as we approached the clearing. It was maybe 500 meters away from the dense jungle that surrounded it, open field with tall grass. I pressed myself up against the base of a tree as the rest of my team spread out, barely visible even with my night vision. "Looks like maybe a couple guys guarding, I've got 7 on top of the pillar." Martin of Saber team called out. It was shaped like a bridge in a way, with 2 sides leading up to it with plenty of doors and crevices for them to hid in. Especially with it reaching into the sky like a rocket.

"Command predicted about 40?" Abdula questioned from across the treeline. "I say we smoke em and get this done, we're already burning time." Martinez sarcastically let out. I was to busy looking over the tall grass to bother. I switched to thermals quickly and nearly shot back in surprise. I could see the white glow of dozens of combatants in the grass just waiting, laying low under their camouflage. "Okay let's just pop 'em." Sierra raised her sniper next to me, I quickly brought it down with my hand and shook my head. "Switch to thermals, tell me what y'all see?" As I waited a moment I could feel their shock in the wind. "Jesus Reeves, that's a lot of bad guys." I pondered our next move carefully. We couldn't risk and outright engagement or we'd be bogged down with incoming fire. We wanted to force them out of their comfort zone and make them easier targets, so that's why we bring explosives. "I need anyone with a grenade launcher or some kind of explosive ordnance to range an area of effect and prep a volley. We'll make 'em dance." With that I heard 3 men immediately unsling their weapons and shove a grenade down the pipe with a satisfying _plunk_.

"Make sure you've got as much ground covered between the 3 of you, synchronize your shots." they snapped the barrels back into place and began adjusting the range with the interface on the side. "Ready, ready, ready" The 3 men called out. Matthews looked down the rails of his launcher and prepped to take the first shot. As my hand raised they waited with baited breath. I closed my hand into a tight fist and less than a second later the triple _thunks_ of their weapons spread throughout the area. An appetizing sound to the soon raging blast. Within the next few seconds the rounds landed on their targets, concealing their heat signatures behind a cloud of hot smoke and dust. "Engage!" I shouted while raising my rifle, I took aim at the unsuspecting Faunus on the guard rail of the pillar. The explosions had caused him to hastily level his weapon and begin firing violently in our general direction. With a 2 semi-automatic shots, my rounds sailed through his weakly armored chest. He must've been a Guerrilla fighter, he wore simple blue jeans and a tropical white dress shirt, all tied together over a loosely secured chest rig that hung at his stomach. I switched targets to another Faunus down the ramp, he was trying to run down to a better position, only for a loud _bang_ to ring in my ears next to me. A vapor trail was left in his wake, as his body dropped in motion flopping onto the ramp and sliding down face first. A bullet puncture and a blood splatter was all that was left.

I looked over the structure one more time and my eyes caught onto something I'd failed to notice. Almost all of the sentries posted on the objective were Faunus, some I could see running through the tall grass but it looked like all of their forces on the ground were Human. We exchanged fire for nearly 5 minutes as they would attempt to flank, suppress, or out shoot us. Each side vying for control of the structure, not wanting to give an inch unless it meant taking the other with them. "Fuckin' 'ell these guys are good Reeves!" Martin shouted from across the line while reloading his rifle. I popped out from the tree I was hiding behind and popped a skull that was just visible above the grass, before firing at 3 other silhouettes only to be met with overwhelming suppressive fire. I slid back behind the bark of the tree, I could see splinters fly as their bullets ate away at the wood. "Yeah, not shit Sherlock!" I attempted to repeat the process of popping out but their levels of fire was overpowering. This wasn't working, God knew how many of them their were in that grass, we needed to flush them out.

"See if you can use some indirect fire, we can't stay pinned like this forever!" Right as I finished my thoughts, one of the demolition experts from Saber team interrupted on comms. "No can do LT, we're not faring too well over here! " Patterson called out. If we couldn't get them out of the grass, maybe we could get rid of the grass entirely. I removed my glove and felt up the air a bit, despite the tropical environment, it was a dry night with little to no moisture in the air. I made my decision and popped my glove back on my hand, "Switch off thermals its about to get hot!" I shouted before pulling my lighter out of one of my pockets. Flicking the lid open and striking the switch I produced a few measly sparks, I continued this process for almost 30 seconds before a bright flame grew from the lighter. I quickly leaned out of cover and ripped off a small branch and began wrapping it in dry leaves. I didn't need the flame to last long, just enough to start a chain reaction. As I finished my makeshift torch I lit the leaves a blaze, their green texture turning a sickly, shrivelled, black in mere moments. Not wanting to waste the opportunity I then hucked the torch into the fields ahead and awaited the bonfire.

Soon enough the first few long blades of grass caught and began distributing the flame to anything within whispering distance. Shrinking and falling apart under the fires wrath quickly. This wrath was then shared among all of the grass like a disease before we began seeing more and more bodies running among them, and soon enough, screams of agony.

"You my friend are genius!" A thick Russian accent broke the stunned silence from Viking, a fat laughter then followed from the man who I believed was their medic. "Focus, don't let them get back into position. Keep 'em scattered" I ordered as I broke from cover and began advancing through the burning fields, our equipment was capable of handling the heat and smoke. There's… Not so much. As I walked through the fields, the grass near the pillar still thick and currently NOT on fire was hiding us more than them. I took a few more steps and noticed near a pile of ash a single charred body flailing on the ground screaming like he was being murdered… Because he was. It was hard to tell as no single piece of ID was left on him, but from the gear being MICH helmets, all black attire, and plate carriers I'd seen the VRT use I was certain he was one. I knelt down next to him as his eyelids had been nearly burned off, his face was still dripping from the melted flesh and red like a fresh steak. His boots had been signed to his flesh along with most of his uniform, whatever the chemical structure of this grass was, it was very fucking flammable. His eyes went from pain, to shock, to finally fear as I approached him. He only saw a helmet and gun, no face or person there, just a blank target that had nearly killed him. It was when I observed closer I noticed who he was.

While I didn't know him by name I recognized what was left of his face, he was the pointman during our killhouse training back in Vale, damn shame. He was a good soldier and had a promising future, with that thought in mind I quickly raised my rifle and shot him in the head. His body went limp and hit the ground with a barely audible thud over the gunfire, with him dealt with I shouldered my weapon and moved on. The grass was finally starting to burn away leaving none of us hidden, however, we were prepared. As Atlesian Special Forces began back peddling, all while dragging their wounded back to sandbags and fortifications we'd failed to miss I realized we were in a horrible situation. They hadn't been running in panic, they'd been regrouping to a secondary defensive standpoint. "Scatter!" I yelled out, only to witness Saber teams leader get ripped apart by heavy MG fire from a Mistral Ranger on top of the forerunner structure. While the rest of the task force split up and began dividing their fire, I saw Deruld laying down a heavy amount of suppressive fire from behind a fallen VRT soldier. He lay on his stomach with his SAW's bipod perched on the chest of the dead body, firing with reckless abandon into their fortifications.

I had less than a few seconds to figure something out, with no other option I did the one thing that seemed right. I popped a blue smoke grenade and hurled it behind their barricades. The wind was too strong to possibly give us a smoke screen, but it'd certainly flush them out again. It wasn't long until the rest of Viper caught on to the plan and began flanking around Deruld's fire, pinching them to either move out of their positions towards MG fire, or into us. As I made my way right I saw a single Ranger break from cover, his armor was an olive drab, with a dark green cloak over his shoulder. The piece of cloth hid most of his left side and, given the situation, broke up his outline. I focused down the rails of my weapon and fired a single shot that drove through his chest as his legs gave way, his face slamming into the ground. I slid down to one knee behind a large enough rock for cover and awaited the rest. One by one they all exited from the smoke and were gunned down mercilessly, barely able to clear their lungs of the gas before being shot where they stood.

As the blue smoke dissipated and we closed in, the few who had endured the suffocating cloud were left coughing and panting for breath as we quickly put one in between their eyes. Most people believed that only tear gas had that effect, but as someone whos been on top of a smoke grenade, that is a fucking lie. As we approached the ramps on either side I gave the signal to hold. Their still had to be maybe 8 or 9 guys left, and this wasn't exactly the most subtle way to get to them. As the Task Force split into 2 groups on both sides and stacked up, I gave the go ahead. I was near the end of the group and as I saw the first guy reach the end of the ramp I hear a gunshot and then a thud. Then another, and another, and another, until eventually neither gunshot or thuds could be heard except the cold night. "Clear!" I heard come from Cooper over comms, with that we began spreading out and taking up defenses positions on top of the pillar. The solid railings provided good cover and vantage over the surrounding area, it was shame they gave such a tactical position to a bunch of fucking brain-dead animals.

"Alright, the techs know what to look for. There's an entrance over there…" I pointed towards the pillars main door which was in the side of the tall spire that this platform had been built around. "Sabre, clear out the inside and take care of it. Viking and Onyx will handle external security. Their best men are gonna be inside so tread lightly, if you get wounded I can't promise we can pull you out of here." Task Force Viper was in a full circle, each member looking at me with their weapons lowered and relaxed as if this was an everyday thing. "Get going." I waved off Sabre as I walked over to a good firing position overlooking the treeline directly behind the city. Speaking of the city, from here you could see its lights but I was mainly sure that was just all the shit the Marines had set on fire by now.

"Big Eye this is Viper, objective building had been secured and is currently being cleared for the techs. Please advise?" There was less than a breath on comms before my response came in. "Copy Viper, The Marines, funny enough, were more effective than predicted on their initial assault on the coast. They've taken most of their cities and towns, majority of their oceanic Navy is in ruin, and their remaining air assets are falling back to another area." I could sorta see where he was going with this but I wasn't quite sure. "Meaning for us sir?" I could audibly hear him sigh behind his microphone before he replied. "Meaning, despite us keeping the guys you just killed from calling for help. Retreating forces from the cities are gonna run right into you. Numbering, most likely, in the hundreds." I let my head drop to my chest in disappointment, why did things always have to be so damned hard. I rose my head and pressed on my push-to-talk once again. "Viper copies all Big Eye, we'll handle it. Out." With that I turned towards the rest of my guys, they'd been listening in on the same frequency, which meant they knew exactly what to expect. Which in turn meant I needed a plan.

"I want all demo guys to have their weapons ready, Sabre should've left us their guy so we've got 3. Everyone facing West, nobody fires until I give the word." And with that we waited for nearly 5 minutes in silence. Nobody moved, nobody spoke, nobody could even think about anything other than the mission for all I knew. We all just wanted to get off this fucking rock and at least die in the same dimension as our own. As the night only became darker we spotted movement in the trees, we prayed they'd move past us but the dead bodies we'd left in the burnt fields certainly attracted their attention. At first only some small guerilla fighters of the Faunus came out, slash bandoliers and makeshift camo was all we could see from our concealed positions. "Easy now boys, let them pass if we can." Cooper whispered from across the railing. The lead man of the fighters inspected the charred corpse of the VRT member I shot before making a waving motion with his hand and speaking in some foreign language I could only compare to a mix of Spanish and Portuguese. As he finished his command, a platoon of guerillas along with light-infantry units from Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and surprisingly one Vacuo guy, all appeared from the trees. Not that we couldn't see them in the thick brush, night vision gave us a good clue that they were there but camouflage is camouflage. As the combatants entered the burnt fields of grass and began inspecting the area, they seemed to lower their guard despite the big chrome structure in their vicinity.

All standard stuff considering they hadn't expected to see us. "Alright… Pop the bastards." I commanded only to be met with a quick rebuttal from one of Viking's Marksman. "No wait, there's something in the trees." I inspected the bushes and true to his words there was a lot of something moving in there. "Demo's prep some indirect fire." As I continued aiming down the field I saw Matthews slowly crawl up next to me and load a 40 mil into his tube. As I awaited whatever mystery lay beyond the foliage I was only amazed at what came out. Dozens of civilians all creeped out slowly as the soldiers ushered them along, some wounded, some clutching loved ones, some desperately looking for them. Children, men, women, all of them were seeking refuge and it looked like our objective seemed to do the trick for them. As they slowly walked closer across the field towards us, I could feel my men get itchy triggers but weighted minds. "Boss, can't let 'em here." Martinez gritted though his teeth audibly.

They got closer and the decision was becoming harder, we could take out the soldiers maybe but to many of them were mixed in with the crowd to guarantee no civilian casualties. As my options lessened I realized that none of this mattered anyway, only the mission did. If your gonna commit war crimes at least do it efficiently. "Patterson fire a warning shot." I ordered Sabre teams Grenadier who looked at me with visible confusion and flustered breaths. "Um… Sir this is a 40 millimeter grenade launcher?" I only shook my head from my prone position and replied. "Did I fucking stutter Patterson, fire the warning shot." His only response was a quick shrug as he loaded the round and the rest of the Grenadiers did the same. "Weapons free." I whispered before the storm.

With that 3 grenades were launched into the flock of civilians. Launching small children across the field and limbs the same. The few who were unaffected by the blast only stared at the scene before them in shock. Bodies were strewn about the grass and the dirt was pasted red with blood. It wasn't long before the rest of the men began firing and picking off the rest. They quickly fell but as we thought the engagement ended we began taking fire from our rear, and then our sides. Soon we realized we hadn't just killed a small retreating party, but rather had engaged a whole battalion of enemy soldiers all trying to evacuate the civi's. And we'd just performed a gruesome live execution in front of them all. "Shit we're boxed in on all sides here!" One of Viking called out before a round impacted his chest. He hit the ground from his crouched position, coughing, but alive due to his armor plating. "Don't waste your shots, if we can outlast them, they'll just move on." They'd have no reason to stay engaged with us for long. If we could fend them off for just enough time they'd figure it wasn't worth the price and retreat further into the jungles of Menagerie, where Grimm would inevitably consume them. And so the fierce firefight continued, I was picking off targets in the treeline but for guerilla's, they had good aim. Good enough that we'd nearly sustained a casualty n the first few minutes. Their aim was only getting better through sheer volume as they grew bolder and began dipping their feet into the surrounding fields.

"Hold your ground, don't let them gain an inch!" Abdula screamed from across our platform. The air was whistling and cracking every second, making the already loud firefight practically deafening. We'd been going for nearly 3 minutes now and no sign from Sabre. "Martin, what the hell's going on down there. It's getting hot out here!" A single bullet whizzed past my head and clipped one of Vikings member in the shoulder. He dropped to a knee and hobbled towards cover where a field medic would begin treating him. "Can't go any faster Reeves, this place is a lot deeper than you'd think. Definitely not short on bad guys either, lot of resistance." At that very moment I saw something that no leader every wants to see. Sierra popped up from cover, her weapon drawn and firing 3 shots before one lucky, or unlucky, round sailed right through her helmet. Her face slammed forward onto the buttstock of her rifle before her knees gave way and she crumpled onto the floor. Martinez was the first to react, having been extremely close with her in their sniper/spotter role. He slid next to her and dragged her behind cover and began removing her helmet. Once he saw the hole inside her forehead, the blood pooling onto his gloves and staining his clothes I saw his head drop. You couldn't hear it, or see it due to his helmet, but I could see his shoulders jumping slightly as if he were crying.

The enemy grew bolder after their fresh kill, pushing out of the treeline despite our repeated fire and suppression. I crouched low and ran over in a hunched over figure towards Martinez, placing my hand on his shoulders and loosening his grip on Sierra. He begrudgingly complied, "Later" I said with as much care as I could given the situation. He didn't reply, simply nodding, I could see his hands shake with adrenaline and rage. As 5 men began sprinting towards us out of the trees he quickly spun out, quicker than I was able to fully comprehend, and fire 5 consecutive shots. Each body dropped immediately from his DMR, a pink mist appearing behind their skulls. More and more began appearing around us and it became clear that we may not need to worry about an extraction at this point. "Big Eye, it's a fucking prairie fire down here. I need air support on my location ready to receive, over!?" I ducked quickly as a high-caliber round flew over me and impacted the wall behind me, leaving a thick dent in it. I then returned fire and sent 3 rounds through the fuckers chest. "Viper Actual, standby, close air support will be on station in 3 mikes out." The calm southern voice reassured me, to which I then took a bullet to the chest which knocked me on my ass. The plate successfully absorbed the bullet and transferred the force to my body, a medic ran over to check o me but I waved him off. "Big Eye… Make it 2… We're being overrun!" Special Operations or no, you simply can't fight a whole continent and expect to survive.

The fighting continued throughout the night, they inched closer and closer and the fields became soaked in blood. A couple more civilians were caught in the crossfire but none of us gave a damn at this point, in fact, we'd noticed their resolve was weakening. I eventually gave the order to prioritize civilians, as their deaths seemed to only further crush the moral of the assaulters. My men, being the creative little bastards they are, made sure to go for more painful and less clean shots. Brutalizing the civi's in front of everyone, making our own resolve clear to our attackers. Within due time air support rolled in and practically set the damn jungle on fire with all of the shells, bombs, and gun runs we ordered. Soon enough we simply began mopping up the last few remaining enemies. The rest, however, just seemed to pull back and hold position. We could visibly see them but they just wouldn't engage, we held our fire but kept our weapons at the ready. They had us surrounded but didn't seem to want to fight anymore, like a switch had been hit and suddenly they just turned off. That's when an all to familiar high-pitched scream whaled throughout the jungle like a siren. Something beyond the trees was lit a blaze, and suddenly a ball of ice and fire was being launched towards us. My men all dove, some off of the structure down to the fields below, some simply off to the side. But no one dared to take the force of such a blow.

As the fire died and the ice dissipated 2 figures remained, standing on our platform, just feet away. The rest of Viper aimed their weapons and told the individuals to freeze, the rest scanned the area for anymore attacks. The 2 simply stood ready, with their backs against each other. Despite the mighty display of power, I could only question their strategy as they had effectively just put themselves into a hole. "Always nice to see a friendly face you two." I commented and as the smoke wanned, we could see a golden blond brawler and an icy queen point their respective weapons at us. "Long time, Yang, Weiss, how's the family?" Neither responded, rather, gritting their teeth and brandishing their weapons. Not seeing a reason to monologue I gave the order to shoot, only for a sniper round to sail through Viking leads cranium, Ruby. At the same time Jones was stabbed in the back by Blake, his screams filled the night sky with agony. I was shocked, for only a moment, but shocked nonetheless. They'd finally resorted to killing, they'd finally given in, war corrupts even the purest souls. With the remainder of Viper now distracted and focusing on different targets, they took the opportunity to strike. Yang launcher her fist into my gut, sending my sailing off the edge of the pillar and as I landed in the fields below I could hear the cheers of the enemy in the trees. This was revenge for them, but as Yang pursued me I noticed something, Ruby was missing more shots than she should. Weiss was losing her balance quite a bit more than I was use to seeing and Blake swung with a viscous fury.

It wasn't a chaotic rage, but rather one being preserved. Stored for a different time, a different person… Me. The rage I must've caused them must have sent them into a blind fury at the mere chance to get recompense. With this new found knowledge in mind I devised a plan, they may of been more powerful but they've always had an achilles heel, their arrogance and maturity. As strong and god-like as their abilities were they still felt prey to easy traps that most would be able to avoid. "Viper, disengage I repeat, disengage. They want me, I'll draw them in then you knock em down!" I shouted over the internal comm link, with that said I had less than a split second to pull this off. As Yang readied a shotgun blast I quickly took 2 easy shots at Blake and Weiss, the bullet bouncing off their aura but getting their attention nonetheless. We may of looked alike but they knew it was me, they quickly left my team alone and in their blind rage began making their way towards me. With less than 3 seconds before Yang turned my face into molten slag, I located Ruby perched on a tree and did the same, she avoided the shot but used her speed to join her sister in the assault.

The shotgun blast nailed me square in the chest knocked me 10 feet back, my rifle going in one direction to, God knows where. With each member of RWBY now dialed in on my ass I rose to my feet, removed my helmet and began the monologue. These kids wouldn't be smart enough to just finish the job like a professional, amateurs. "So… I see killing is now apart of your resume?" I wheezed out, the blast still stinging on my body. "Well we took a few notes from you shithead!" Yang hissed out, she was the keystone to all this. She'd keep them all pissed off which certainly made my guys lives a lot easier. "I'm proud, you're a bonafide killer now, just like me!" The 'compliment' didn't sit well with them as Blake, in all her self-righteousness then responded. "We're nothing like you, we don't murder innocents, or even those who trusted us at that!" She swallowed her rage for a moment before continuing. "Going behind our backs and destroying Atlas buildings! The attack on the convoy was you, all those scientists, soldiers, and civilians dead." She went to go say something before Weiss screamed at me too. "You killed my sister you sick son of a bitch!" She went to lunge only for Blake to hold her back. "What have you even done to Doctor Geppetto, tortured for information most likely!" Seeing my team crawl into position and set up their weapons I sent a message over the comm link to hold for my signal. I was going to have fun with this, of course I wasn't on those missions but I'd rather milk it for what it's worth. "Yup, Geppetto is currently locked up in some God forsake ONI black site with no chance of ever seeing the light again. However, trust me us Spec Ops guys take pride in doing shady shit, and might I saw Weiss. Your sister sure went down like a bitch, didn't even draw her swo-!" Weiss lunged at me with her rapier in the blink of an eye.

Expecting the outburst of anger I sidestepped the strike and brought my knee up to her gut. Her aura may of stopped the harm but not the force, she fell flat on her ass and rolled around gasping for air. Yang was the second to jump, I ducked under her fist and gave out a swift strike to her gut and jaw. She stumbled back before grabbing Weiss and rejoining the rest of team RWBY, with my fun out of the way I raised my hand with it open. "It's been fun, but it's about time you kids went to sleep." I closed my hand into a fist and a symphony of firearms shredded Yang, Weiss, and Blake to shreds. Ruby sped out of the way only to be blasted by Martinez, who was currently wielding Sierra's sniper rifle. The cheers and yells of the trees went silent, knowing my time wasn't gonna last much longer I located my rifle and ran back to the objective.

I wasn't even 50 yards away before the shooting erupted again, what was once predicted to be a 5 minute firefight was now a raging battle of attrition and territory. I swung around the side of the pillar and quickly raced up the ramp, their bullets biting at my heels as I did so. I quickly dove behind cover and slammed a fresh magazine into my weapon. I had 2 and a half left at this point, enough to last me a couple more minutes if I rationed my shots correctly. "Martin, their getting ballsy, what's the status on this damn thing!" I said as a bullet chipped away at my increasingly shrinking cover. "Standby." Was my only response, and as I awaited what I could only assume some feat of magic, the enemy began rushing our position in a last-ditch effort to stop us. As they did so a blast of white energy erupted from the pillars base, knocking over all of the charging fighters and incapacitating them too. From the spire within the structure a bright blue beam was shot into the sky for a moment, only to dissipate and burst in a bright cloud in the sky. As it did so my radio shot to life from the command channel, "That did it Reeves, we're sending you an extraction. Portals closing fast so make it quick." The message was sent across all our comm links and sent a sigh of relief from the men. As some of the fighters stood up their was an obvious divide in their morale. Some stood up and reached for their weapons only to be shot where they stood, the others attempted to run only to be shot a few seconds later.

"Collect the wounded and dead, I'm marking an LZ now." I struck a bright orange flare and tossed it into the open field, as we made our way down and began securing it I could see more silhouettes move through the treelines. At first I thought it was Grimm, and I was only partially right, as they were running through the thick woods but not at us surprisingly. They were running away, from what I've studied the Grimm never run away. It was at that moment I saw more shadows among the trees, taller and shorter, with unfamiliar frames to the Humans and Faunus I'd grown accustomed to fighting. It took mere moments for one plasma round to slam into the ground next for me until I realized this new threat, or rather and old one, the Covenant. We must've over extended our window, we fired into their positions with anything we had left. Energy shields and fluorescent blood shining through the darkness, and as the sun began rising behind us, their frames only became easier to spot. I rested my sights on a lone Jackal crouched next to a fallen tree, he took aim as did I the only difference being my quicker finger. My round sailed through the air and right through its neck, splattering blood rapidly from the wound.

"Big Eye, we've got Covis grounded on Menagerie, we need that extract right fucking now!" No response came. With our position becoming surrounded and the fire only increasing from all sides and Sabre team now joining us, we had no choice but to hold our ground. As more of my team fell I began losing hope in our return home, still, I fired my weapon and killed as many of those assholes as possible. Inserting my final mag into my rifle and taking aim once more, only to catch the sight of Cooper being stabbed in the gut by an energy dagger from a cloaked Elite. I can't quite describe it, but something in me broke. I lowered my weapon and tackled the beast, slamming my knee onto its chest and drawing my sidearm. I unloaded every round I had until the thing stopped moving and screaming in pain, I rolled off afterwards and towards Coopers body. I quickly removed his helmet and saw his blank eyes staring into eternity, the hole in his chest cauterized by the plasma. I raised my rifle one final time and fired at as many as I could, Viking team was all but dead and Sabre was down to 3 members. Leaving me, Sabre team leader Martin, Matthews, Martinez, Deruld, Patterson, and 2 others. "Hold your ground!" I yelled with parched lips and dry lungs, my body began aching more than it ever had been before, the adrenaline fading as my mind realized the futility of the situation.

The last 2 members of Sabre team were shot by Jackal snipers. As our circle closed in and the streams of plasma began engulfing the field I took one right in the chest. My already battered armor failed to contain the shot fully and singed my upper chest. I fell to the ground rolling in agony, screaming like a mad man too. I began fading out of consciousness and only catching snapshots of the firefight. Deruld began dragging me back as Matthews fired a red flare round into the treeline, I blacked out for the first time. When I came too I saw a hovering Pelican above us cutting down not only the trees with its cannons, but of course a large amount of enemies before igniting the jungle ablaze with its ordnance, I blacked out once more. When my vision restored itself a third time I was being pulled up into the back of a Pelican the scarred field littered with many bodies the most recognizable being our own. Martinez and Martin were defending Deruld and Matthews as they loaded me up and strapped me into a chair. I blacked out for a forth and nearly final time then a there. As my consciousness began restoring itself one last time I saw the Pelican take off, all kinds of plasma fire followed its ascent and a crewman of the aircraft stuck a needle in me. My last sight being the remaining 4 members of the Task Force sitting around nursing their own wounds. And like that I was out.

 **4 Hour Later - Undisclosed location**

When I finally came to after all of this I was debriefed on the whole thing. Covenant progressed faster than expected due to the fact the Spartan team activated their pillar before they even had a chance to send in reinforcements. The plan went off as expected, we blew past the fleet of enemy ships and locked the doors behind them. When I was given a moment to look over the official casualty tolls of the team, I could confirm who'd come back. Deruld, Matthews, Martine, and Martinez, I'd initially thought Patterson survived given I hadn't seen him die but Martin assured me that he was dead. Told me a needle round went through his eye, which wasn't a fun thing to imagine.

Major Grant saw me, told me he was sorry about my team and left. For high command it was a swinging success, the invasion of Menagerie was extremely effective, the 2 main objectives had been completed, and we successfully escaped. We were just in open space now waiting for the word to slipspace away from here. Nobody mentioned the civilians killed, the measures we took to win, or the men we'd lost. I'd have to refill the ranks of my own team, Onyx, soon. I fresh batch of Marines would be entering Force Recon training soon, I may be done my recovery by then.

We had gone down to that planet for something considered so valuable at the time we trained hundreds of lives for it. Then when it didn't produce we just left and decided the locals would have to fend for themselves. All of that death for nothing but an old man and handful of new blueprints. I didn't feel remorse or guilt for what I did down there.

I only wish it had been for something worth my time…

 **And that is a wrap on A New World, A New Threat, this has been an absolute joy for me. The views, reviews, followers, favourites, feedback, PM's, this has been my most well-received story ever. Thank you so much for all your support throughout this, I know this chapter took a damn long time to make but I just haven't been free often.**

 **I know some may have a problem with the sudden GoT style deaths of characters without much emphasis on their impact but that was somewhat point to show the swiftness of death.**

 **As I said thank you so much, I look forward to writing another story for you all soon. Possible another RWBY crossover or a standalone, I'm thinking Titanfall or Destiny, or maybe something less action related.**

 **I'll write to you all in the next story.**


	16. New Story Update

Update Time

Where to Go From Here

 **I'll be honest here, A New World, A New Threat was probably my most well-received story, I don't know how to top it. I don't want to become a repetitive story writer who rights about the same thing, but I simply don't know where to go.**

 **That's why I am using you guys for help.**

 **I'll be honest most of my interests and knowledge does come from fighting/combat/militaristic type subjects. I'm a cadet, weapons enthusiast, and train in martial arts often so it's an easy thing to write. That being said I'm more than what I do and will look to do other types of stories, however, I do have ideas of some possible stories to write.**

 **1: A Titanfall regular story, most likely with an OC as I feel lazy for using already existing characters as the main character. Most likely detailing and showing off more of the Frontier war between The Militia and IMC with a more grander scale and of course pilots.**

 **2: Destiny crossover with… RWBY again, I'm sorry if this feels like a big revert but frankly the RWBY universe seems to work so well with a lot of other worlds and I'll be sure to mix it up from my last one. No inter-dimensional tensions or wars, another OC most likely a Hunter, centered around a more bounty hunter style arc.**

 **3: Something Special Forces related, not much thought into this so if you want it just give me an idea and hey I'll probably respond if you PM me it.**

 **Like I said, I'll be glad to hear your responses and hopefully I can finally get back to doing the thing I love.**


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